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New member here,
I think this is my first post ever.
I had to learn what credit was on my own, this meant that I would make many many mistakes. I have come to lear to take care of it and manage it ok I think. I get upset the times I forget or miss a due date now. Some times get depressed because of missing a due date. Anyways, now I have accomplished alot since I first started on this 3 year quest to be more responsible with my credit use. I have had many inquries. My goal is simple I would say.
1- Limit my inquries ( I am looking to lease a vehicle, I hope to complete this and be done) I just learned what being in the garden is, so this is what I plan to do right after
2 - Pay all of my bills and credit cards on time and keep my utilization between 5% to 6% since through a old post I did this and beat the odds that lenders had for me to raise my credit score 100 points.
3 - Continue to learn more and more about the current cards that I have, reaching out to my credit card issuers to ask if they have a CL increase pending for me ( want to limit inquries)
4 - Garden and Garden and Garden. I want to age my current cards and some of the newer ones that I received.
Current scores:
I started in the high 400!!
FICO® Score 8
Experian 649
Equifax 694
TransUnion 677
Hi all. I filed bankruptcy back in January 2016 and got discharged May 2016. I'm on the road to recovery and am trying to get my scores up so I can eventually purchase a home and a decent interest rate.
I plan to keep my cc balances under 10% utilization and clean up any errors that may be showing.
So excited. However, it was not easy getting this set up and into. Anyway, working on getting a home. Finally. I am that person who's seeking knowledge on how to get my credit up to 800, but am shooting for 780 right now. I started at 580, and I am now at 670. Most of my issues were medical as my insurance company refused to pay on an emergency surgery five years ago; I am disabled, and they hit my credit report. I look forward to learning more what the process is in obtaining my goals.
I am retired, with a low FICO, but moving up. My wife and I want to improve our FICO, Buy a house, and enjoy an active life. Any help and suggustions are appreciated.
Well, I am a new challenger. Happened upon this page by searching for a credit question. Glad that I did! In reading others' credit journeys, I can say that I, too, have had the ups and downs (here lately, this is where I have been camping out, unfortunately) on trying to clean up and mantain my credit. My declining/negative credit situation started around end of 2014-mid 2015. My spouse did not have a job, so, all financial responsibility fell on my shoulders. And, boy, did it fall (with two children already and now, another person to take care of). I started getting pay day and installment loans (which has turned into a vicious cycle of lending). I had gotten these in the past; however, in 2013, I was fortunate enough to be able to pay off these type of loans, as well as pay off all of my credit card and personal loan debt, and not incur any new debt. Well, fast forward back to end of 2014-mid 2015, I started getting loans again (and haven't been able to stop as of now).
This is my 3rd cycle of going through the bad credit cycle, with this one being the worst. In the mid-1990s, fresh out of high school, I received offers for a plethora of credit cards. I didn't get them all; enough to ruin my credit, though. Repaired my credit by 2004 and was able to buy a home (with really good interest rate). Then in 2010, I got in a pickle and I had to do my first re-fi on my house (good interest rate). 2010-2014, repaired credit again and was doing really well. 2014-present - in a slump with credit again (had to do another re-fi on my house in 2016 (low interest rate).
My total debt is around $127,000. So, I am basically trying to get rid of the pay day and installment loan (I have one of each), bring my mortgage and auto loan current (I am one month behind on mortgage, almost two months behind on auto loan (seriously thinking of maybe a voluntary repo)), 2nd, pay off my personal loans (I have four, totalling about $9,500 - I will finish one in about four months, which I am extremely happy about), 3rd, and last, tackle my credit card debt (~$6,000). Now, that my spouse, is gainfully employed (almost a year now), he needs to kick it up on his contribution. I have been contemplating filing bancruptcy; however, I really don't feel that is the right route for me. I have had two credit card charge offs recently (another factor that has my credit score so low). I am delinquent on two of my credit cards; however, all of my personal loans are current.
Best of luck to all challengers!
I am new to the myFICO fitness challenge and I'm entering the garden.
2017 Goals
I'm first year college student. My goal is to get Amex BCE, Penfed Gas, BofA BBR, get SSL, and get Disco graduation. I'm strategically trying to get credit cards at 18 years old because I know that I will have time for the inquiries to expire and more time for my accounts to age.
@Subexistence wrote:I'm first year college student. My goal is to get Amex BCE, Penfed Gas, BofA BBR, get SSL, and get Disco graduation. I'm strategically trying to get credit cards at 18 years old because I know that I will have time for the inquiries to expire and more time for my accounts to age.
Here is something to consider. If your parents have a long established credit history and have good credit, then ask if they could add you as an authorized user on their credit card. What this does is apply their history on the account to you such as credit limit, age of account, payment history, etc. The only negative to this is that if they miss a payment on the account, it applies to you. If they have a high balance, it applies to you in regards of credit utilization.
I've added my two daughters when they reached 16 years of age. I keep my credit card on which they are AU's maintained very well - balance paid off, no miss payments etc. The credit limit on this particular card is $10,000 so not too much or too high in my opinion. This way, they already have credit established for at least for several years until they decide they are mature enough to handle the responsibility of getting their own cards or loans.
Hello fellow FICO Challengers!
First time challenger here. Starting to actively engage in improving my credit after financial hardship in 2010/2011. In an early attempt at improving my scores, I refinanced my mortgage in 2013 (after a successful challenge to a forclosure attempt due to improper paperwork on the banks part), and finally consolidated student loans at the end of 2015. Have paid all bills on time since September of 2015, but still in the low/mid 600's.
Goals for 2017:
1. Reduce overall utilization (currently 83%)
2. Improve score enough to get MileagePlus Explorer Card (I travel on United frequently)
3. Continue to agressively pay-down CC debt
4. Take a more proactive role in monitoring my credit health
Good luck to everyone!