Signed up for credit cards as soon as I turned 18. Maxed them out in no time. Learned my lesson. Lost my job. Lots of late payments and some collections and charge-offs.
Husband has a few collection accounts but no late payments. His credit scores are very similar to mine.
Now we get to fix all of our credit boo-boo's so that we can have a house built!
My first goal is to get our scores up to 620-640 to have the minimum scores to qualify for a mortgage, by paying off some collections and working on updating information on our credit reports. We are paying on a piece of land through owner financing. We are hoping to pay this down as much as we can in order to utilize the land equity as down payment.
I've already started writing GW letters. So much good information on these forums. Can't wait to see what comes of it 
Starting Scores pulled by lender: Experian: 535 Transunion: 524 Equifax: 553
Hello, I am new to this Challenge. However I started to take it up by myself in 10/2011. I have a few 90+ and 60+ late payments on credit cards dating back to 2009. After that I entered into a payment plan wiht the banks who closed the account to allow me to pay off. I have now paid it all off as far the credit cards are concerned. I currently have just one visa card with $500 limit and a store card with $1500 and a student loan. My goal is to get 700+ by end of 2013, preferably 720+, if possible. I intend to raise that limit significantly and more importantly get a car loan at a decent rate.
Starting Score: 639 EQ Oct 2011
I've been lurking in the background learning so much information cleaning up my credit profile. It's been a long and hard road that put me in the position that I'm in now. Like so many others that were hit with the bubble burst of 08.
My goals are to clean up old collections and charge offs that are still haunting me every month when I pay my auto loan with a high rate. Hoping to learn and find the answers I need to achieve my goal.
Already started and had a few negs removed from my credit report.
Hello all!
I began this process in March and I am learning a lot from these boards! My goals are to clean up my credit, get rid of old collections and buy a house.
I began this process in March and I am learning a lot from these boards! My goals are to clean up my credit, get rid of old collections and buy a house.
I'm new to this whole credit thing. I don't have anything really bad, except high utilization and one 30 day late from November 2012. I'm young, so I don't have a long credit history at all. I have 2 credit cards, Capital One Journey Card ($500) and just got approved for a Discover It Student card ($500, and hasn't even got here yet), making my revolving credit at $1000. My goals are to get a car and/or an apartment by the end of the year. I have seen my EQ score go up 24 points just by paying my Capital One card down by less than 100 dollars (from $453 to $369). The utilization on that card is currently at 18%, trying to pay it off to 10% or less.
I'm excited to get started and to reach my goals!
Starting the FICO Challenge and int he Garden. Homeownership here I come!
I am trying to reduce credit card debt so that I can get better interest rates. I have a FICO score of 720, it was 728 a few weeks ago. While 720 isn't bad, my income is considered insufficient and I do have high balances on the cards I have. So, if I can reduce the balances, increase my 720 to 750 or better, then maybe I can get the lower interest rates to refinance some of my higher interest accounts.
Jen
Hi Jen /mdmfoo,
Try to pay highest interest balances first and /or payoff the ones which has the lowest credit utilisation radio whatever suites. As this could be particularly helpful in improving your score.
Try to pay highest interest balances first and /or payoff the ones which has the lowest credit utilisation radio whatever suites. As this could be particularly helpful in improving your score.