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@ol wrote:Hello my fellow FICO Fitness Challengers 2012:
I'm excited to be here to start and succeed at building my score!
My goal is be to at a 700 and beyond so that I can be a proud homeowner. I'm tired of renting and paying off other people's mortgages.
In 2000-2001, I allowed my love life to take precedence over the important things in life. I allowed him to use my cards and my credit and by the time I knew it, my score was in the low 500's "ouch". Well I learned my lesson.
I'm currently writing to companies and removing old complied with negative information from my credit report. I now have "one" card I use and pay religiously, I also have one car loan I pay religiously on too. I only have one collection item on my report that I will be paying very soon (thankfully it's a small amount)
Hopefully when you hear from me again I'll be reporting a better score
HI ol
Make sure they give you a LETTER OF DELETION after you've paid. Make them send you in writing that they will send you this letter before you send them any money. Also, even before that, make them verify that this is your bill. If they do, then make sure you tell them that you can't pay it all - debt collectors purchases these bills from the original company you owe for little or nothing and then charge the full amount of the debt. Negotiate; start low, be shameless!! :-). And when they say they will accept the payment that you negotiated, then you tell them you want the bill stamped PAID and then ask for a LETTER OF DELETION, not OF PAYMENT but DELETION. Your score will then rise faster than a roller coaster descends!
I am new to the Fitness Challenge and I am ready to get started!
My current situation:
Discharged BK February 2011. I have spent most of 2011 opening up as many new accounts as I can, now I'm just going to sit back and maintain what accounts I do have.
I currently have 4 CCs and I am an authorized user on a Walmart card.
I currently have 3 personal loans with my Credit Union
My goal:
a Mortgage in 2013
I plan to achieve this goal by continuing to pay my bills on time and by paying down my current debt which I'm in the process of doing.
My 2011 goals:
1. Your FICO score goal for 2011: My ideal score would be 750+ but I'd be very happy with hitting 720 by the end of this year!
2. Your current FICO score(s): EQ 711
3. The steps you plan to take to achieve your goal: on-time payments, utilization below 9%
I have not reached my ideal score of 750+, but that is mostly because I'm still waiting to bounce back from the 6 cards I received last year, starting in July. I have surpassed 720 on all three and have no doubt that I can make it to 750 by the end of this year!
My 2012 goals:
1. Your FICO score goal for 2011: 750+ on all three
2. Your current FICO score(s): EQ 723 TU ??? EX FAKO 732 (Credit Sesame)
3. The steps you plan to take to achieve your goal: on-time payments, utilization below 9%
Additionally I plan to app for the last 2 cards I really want: Citi Forward and AmEx BCP. I'm in the process of gardening and paying down balances by May to try my luck at those apps!
I've created a simple Excel file that has been helping me reach my financial goals.
Main goal: To have just a mortgage payment.
Last year I had 7 open accounts w/ balances, and with lots of planning (excel sheet) and predictability, I'm now down to 4 accounts. I have 2 auto payments ($4K & $15K) and 1 credit card ($1K), and mortgage($150K) currently.
Goals for 2012:
Best luck to all!
20111 Goals
Reach 680 across all CRA.
I was able to make significant improvement over the 2011, thanks to the knowledge posted on this forum. My score as of 12/31 was 670 EQ & 671 TU.
2012 Goals
- Reach 700 across all CRA.
- Reduce my debt down to $0 (keeping one card at ~9%, for score optimization).
Working deligently this year to improve my scores. Some old baddies will fall off this year and I will increase my credit card limits. Lorking forward to this 2012!
Hey All!
This is my first post, and I've wanted to participate in this challenge for about a month now! I'm excited to carry out this task as my new year's resolution was simple. "To Be a Financial Adult".
Brief History-- I was financially illiterate. My family lived by the live for today because you're going to die tomorrow and you can't take it with you philosophy. Although highly intelligent people otherwise, this was the stupidest lesson they could have taught me. My parents finances currently are a nightmare that I can't begin to wrap my head around. Needless to say, spendthrift ways, a bad relationship, and living in perpetual denial landed me in a Chapter 13 by age 25 in 2009.
Today-- I was recently discharged from the 13 after paying back all my creditors at 100%, I am on track to graduate this year, and I have a well paying secure occupation. I make money, now what do I do with it? This is where my new year's resolution comes into being. I have taken the steps through the great advice of many on here, I read a TON over the christmas holiday and in a month raised my score astronically through some of the tips I gained.
Currently, my CR shows only student loans, the 13 discharge, and remaining creditors at 0 balance which majority will fall off in April and May. I have 3 small collection accounts that total less than 300$ combined, and I am in the process of goodwilling and PFD them away wish me luck. I have had 2 30 day lates in the last year with current accounts. This is from adminstrative oversight on due dates, I'm hoping that a goodwill letter will resolve that deficiency as well.
Finally, I have a car loan that is not reporting as I purchased it as a lease with gps device (excellent option for the credit strapped) and will have it paid in full by April. At that time, the company will report 24months of ontime payments to the 3Bureaus. The interest for the vehicle was a little high, but opportunity costs. It is my hope that if I can rid my report of the lates, post the payment history for the car, remove the CAs and let the remaining baddies fall off by June I will reach my goal. The only negative remaining will be the 13. Which is beneficial because will report as 3 years old this month, so I am in great shape I believe to keep on trucking. Any advice that you all have is welcomed, as I am a thirsty sponge.
Long Term--My goal is to buy a house. I make too much money not to be able to take advantage of the tax benefit. I think that I can try and secure a loan by August if my plan works as designed. Once I get myself out of this rut, its been 4 long years, I plan to stay out and be the financial adult I know I can! I will never purposefully put myself in this position again. Good luck to you all.
Starting Scores-- 11/28/11
TU 479 EQ 481 EX 508 (FAKO)
Current Scores-- 01/7/2011
TU 553 EQ 533 EX 601 (FAKO)
Goal -- 740+
I am going for 720!
Due to a job loss in 2007, my 740 Credit Score got demolished. After a few hard years I am finally on the path to being able to reastablish my credit. In early 2010 I paid the small items off like store credit cards and old phone bills. Now I am tackling larger items like my school loans (on which I paid my last rehab payment in October) - although due to some sort of system change at Federal Student Loans, they have not assumed my loan again, so I'm still paying the collection company and waiting for that 13 years of positive pay history to make it's pretty mark on my FICO. My plan is to buy a home in 2012!
Hey Everyone!
So like many out there, I started out my adult life destroying my credit. I had no role models growing up when it came to money or credit. Then after realizing how bad I was at managing credit, I avoided it like the plague. Of course, that was not a long term solution. In 2008, I decided to start paying on my student loans for the first time. Then I got a secured CC that I put $1000 down for $1500 limit. After that I got my credit report, which of course was ugly. So I decided there wan't anything I could do at least for a few years but ensure that I kept paying my bills on time every month. In 2011 I found out about this site and the fico score. I was determined to educate myself. The last of my old negative crap finally fell off my report in 2011. I now have a few more credit cards and two car loans that are joint with my husband. I am very proud to have the scores I have. It has taken time and hard work, but I have started seeing the rewards that go along with being responsible with credit. I just got approved this week for a Discover Card with a $3500 cl. Now I just want to pay down my balances. Right now I have a utilization of 27%. My goal is to pay off all of my cards but one which I want to have below a 15% utilization by the end if the year. This year I will apply for no more cards. I will let my accounts age. Starting to think about the possibility of purchasing a home in the next few years. I am so thankful that I found this site and these forums. It is crazy how little I really knew before I did.