I just wanted to shout out and show my appreciation for this whole forum. I really did a number on my credit when I was young. I had the "free money" mentality - though with good intentions, I guess (I had every intention of paying off cards, and saw it as a way to buy stuff I couldn't otherwise afford, but a lack of steady income above living wage was my down fall). So I made mistakes. Then I grew and I learned.
Fast forward to a couple of years ago, I was realizing how important credit was and realized I wanted to buy a house and nicer car eventually. I started to buckle down but had no idea what was important. I thought just having credit cards would help, not realizing that utilization was an important factor. So when I got serious about buying a house, I found this forum. And BOY has my approach changed. I cleaned up my act with the advice here, and my score climbed about 120 points in a year (maybe a smidge more).
Now I'm strict with my credit and constantly improving. My trade lines are growing, and I have the confidence to make those big decisions about my finances without feeling like I'm in the dark (as if my head was buried in the sand - the approach I took for so long).
So I wanted to say thank you to everyone who contributes here and offers advice. I've now been around the block, and am working to share what I have learned from all of you fine folks with the people in my life who need the help, too.
Anyone else have great "come back" stories that they want to shout out to the forum?
For reference - my scores were around 545 in Jan '14, then sat around 580 until Feb '17. Now I'm hovering around 690-700 and only growing from here, finally going into the garden.
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