topic Re: What a year of gardening has done for me in Rebuilding Your Credit

What a year of gardening has done for me

nma851 — Fri, 31 Jan 2014 22:06:35 GMT

I figured I would come on & start being more active again while also bringing GOOD news when we all are dealing with, or have dealt with, quite a bit of "bad". This last year of gardening, especially since I am disabled, pretty much gives me nothing BUT time LOLOL.

Never in a million years would I have believed what the Cap One card did for me in a year's time after all the nonsense. I guess all the "good" prior to all the "bad", in addition to finally having a perfect TL reporting, finally gave me the ability to do what I have been dreaming of: the day the unsecured approval came. I knew my garden would grow but NEVER thought it would grow this much!!!

After seeing the FAKO's, I had to be sure & paid for the FICO's. There had to be a mistake when I looked at that computer screen; low to mid 700's across the board? Nahhh can't be true. Looked at the CR's as a whole - sure enough - IT IS REAL. Despite my SL's being transferred/sold/resold over 6 times destroying my AAoA, that too finally leveled out. 2 positive TL's reporting with NEVER more than 10% usage reporting finally brought me up to where I geared up the strength, said a few prayers, and did what I've been working so hard for: applying for an unsecured.

My hopes were not high as I was filling it out and preparing to click that submit button. But I did - and besides the instant thrill of seeing "Congradulations", I was even MORE surprised to see the CL of $4,300. SERIOUSLY?? Had to be a mistake; there's just no way; was this a dream??? Nope it was not a mistake at all - and I went for round #2 to get approved again with a CL of $3,000. WOWWWWW. MY GARDEN WAS READY FOR HARVESTING!!! Between the old "good stuff" still on the CR's and the new TL's - those scores FINALLY went up to where secured cards are now a thing of the past. Sub-Prime - SEE YA!!

Between the amount of help on here & following every person's recommendations to the tee, THIS DOES WORK! IT WILL HAPPEN! Now, a new car in the near future is no longer a worry - I know I can get it. It took all the strength & discipline I had to NOT open those offers until at least a year of having the TL reporting & this worked & worked well. I'm back on track. I'm back where I once was!!! Getting the new car now is no longer a worry - I KNOW it will happen & is no longer a "hope it will happen"

Now - it's a matter of letting this NEW garden grow & grow up just as the last year did. I'm sure I've taken a bit of a ding with the HP's but that is OK - there's new TL's about to be reporting to "offset" that. The only worry now? What do I do about my secured one which happends to be the oldest? It sure would be nice to have that 3,000 in my bank account but I do NOT want to kill my AAoA either. At the same time, I can live without that; I could opt to close the "monthly fee me to death" card just to have a positive TL's reporting (total of 3 TL's over the last year - a bit more actually). Nonetheless, seeing what it does to my score via the simulator, there is MUCH hesitance to close these - even one of them. BUT - I figure the best route to go is to let these newbies grow up a bit and deal with the "Fee-To-Death" cards for at least 6 months. I do want to close em before the annual fee hits (between 6-9 months I believe) but I'm just so torn on what the best course of action would be.

So my friends, and again I certainly apologize for not being around to chit-chat & contribute as much, feel free to start throwing those suggestions out as you deem fit. As you can see, I LISTENED to you all before & look where I am. The OLD ME IS BACK IN ACTION - but I REFUSE to let something stupid, i.e. closing the "Pay for a postive TL accounts", without first getting some feedback. I certainly appreciate it all in advance - and more importantly, I hope you all who are struggling right now will read this and realize that TIME & PATIENCE is truly what works. Let that garden grow & let it prosper. All the best to everyone & look forward to reading more of the GOOD things on here

For what it is worth, those who've been by my side & helped out, talk about making a disabled man happy for once? YOU ALL DID as I NEVER imagined this day would come anytime soon. I DO wish I could somehow repay the favors of helping ME as much as you did. Every post, every reply, & every suggestion WILL WORK as long as you have the patience, dedication, & WILL POWER to make that garden BLOOM!!! Take care & thanks again everyone

Re: What a year of gardening has done for me

gdale6 — Fri, 31 Jan 2014 22:43:58 GMT

Nice going and congrats on your unsecured cards

Re: What a year of gardening has done for me

nma851 — Fri, 31 Jan 2014 23:49:24 GMT

@gdale6 wrote:
Nice going and congrats on your unsecured cards

THANK YOU GDALE!!!!!!

It's certainly a feeling words cannot express when we get our "Good Names" back! It is only easier from here. You take care & have a great weekend!

Re: What a year of gardening has done for me

xosamandaxo — Fri, 31 Jan 2014 23:53:08 GMT

Great job

Which secured cards? How many? What was your limit? Best advice? Etc... looking for help! Hoping to you be you next year!

Re: What a year of gardening has done for me

Anonymous — Sat, 01 Feb 2014 00:06:36 GMT

@nma851 wrote:
I figured I would come on & start being more active again while also bringing GOOD news when we all are dealing with, or have dealt with, quite a bit of "bad". This last year of gardening, especially since I am disabled, pretty much gives me nothing BUT time LOLOL.

Never in a million years would I have believed what the Cap One card did for me in a year's time after all the nonsense. I guess all the "good" prior to all the "bad", in addition to finally having a perfect TL reporting, finally gave me the ability to do what I have been dreaming of: the day the unsecured approval came. I knew my garden would grow but NEVER thought it would grow this much!!!

After seeing the FAKO's, I had to be sure & paid for the FICO's. There had to be a mistake when I looked at that computer screen; low to mid 700's across the board? Nahhh can't be true. Looked at the CR's as a whole - sure enough - IT IS REAL. Despite my SL's being transferred/sold/resold over 6 times destroying my AAoA, that too finally leveled out. 2 positive TL's reporting with NEVER more than 10% usage reporting finally brought me up to where I geared up the strength, said a few prayers, and did what I've been working so hard for: applying for an unsecured.

My hopes were not high as I was filling it out and preparing to click that submit button. But I did - and besides the instant thrill of seeing "Congradulations", I was even MORE surprised to see the CL of $4,300. SERIOUSLY?? Had to be a mistake; there's just no way; was this a dream??? Nope it was not a mistake at all - and I went for round #2 to get approved again with a CL of $3,000. WOWWWWW. MY GARDEN WAS READY FOR HARVESTING!!! Between the old "good stuff" still on the CR's and the new TL's - those scores FINALLY went up to where secured cards are now a thing of the past. Sub-Prime - SEE YA!!

Between the amount of help on here & following every person's recommendations to the tee, THIS DOES WORK! IT WILL HAPPEN! Now, a new car in the near future is no longer a worry - I know I can get it. It took all the strength & discipline I had to NOT open those offers until at least a year of having the TL reporting & this worked & worked well. I'm back on track. I'm back where I once was!!! Getting the new car now is no longer a worry - I KNOW it will happen & is no longer a "hope it will happen"

Now - it's a matter of letting this NEW garden grow & grow up just as the last year did. I'm sure I've taken a bit of a ding with the HP's but that is OK - there's new TL's about to be reporting to "offset" that. The only worry now? What do I do about my secured one which happends to be the oldest? It sure would be nice to have that 3,000 in my bank account but I do NOT want to kill my AAoA either. At the same time, I can live without that; I could opt to close the "monthly fee me to death" card just to have a positive TL's reporting (total of 3 TL's over the last year - a bit more actually). Nonetheless, seeing what it does to my score via the simulator, there is MUCH hesitance to close these - even one of them. BUT - I figure the best route to go is to let these newbies grow up a bit and deal with the "Fee-To-Death" cards for at least 6 months. I do want to close em before the annual fee hits (between 6-9 months I believe) but I'm just so torn on what the best course of action would be.

So my friends, and again I certainly apologize for not being around to chit-chat & contribute as much, feel free to start throwing those suggestions out as you deem fit. As you can see, I LISTENED to you all before & look where I am. The OLD ME IS BACK IN ACTION - but I REFUSE to let something stupid, i.e. closing the "Pay for a postive TL accounts", without first getting some feedback. I certainly appreciate it all in advance - and more importantly, I hope you all who are struggling right now will read this and realize that TIME & PATIENCE is truly what works. Let that garden grow & let it prosper. All the best to everyone & look forward to reading more of the GOOD things on here

For what it is worth, those who've been by my side & helped out, talk about making a disabled man happy for once? YOU ALL DID as I NEVER imagined this day would come anytime soon. I DO wish I could somehow repay the favors of helping ME as much as you did. Every post, every reply, & every suggestion WILL WORK as long as you have the patience, dedication, & WILL POWER to make that garden BLOOM!!! Take care & thanks again everyone

Good to hear from you again!

Congrats on your accomplishments.

Re: What a year of gardening has done for me

nma851 — Sat, 01 Feb 2014 00:11:04 GMT

@xosamandaxo wrote:
Great job

Which secured cards? How many? What was your limit? Best advice? Etc... looking for help! Hoping to you be you next year!

You WILL GET THERE! I didn't believe it myself but lo & behold, the day DOES come

Umm - the secured I started with was the Cap One Secured - I only had to pay the $49.99 deposit but I kept on raising it to the max of $3,000.

The 2nd one was a sub-prime through 1st P - and yes, before I get crucified, I ONLY did this to get a 2nd TL reporting. I never put more than $50 on it and made sure it had activity every single month in order to make FICO happy & score it properly. This one had a limit of $700 initially & they raised it at the 6 & 9 month marks up to $1,975. Like another $25 would have killed em LOL. Their fees are ridiculous though but to get another TL reporting, you're pretty much "paying" for them to report (and your first born).... There's likely better however again, I chose that offer just because of the higher CL initially. At 36% interest, you'll NEVER want to carry a balance with them!!! Probably why they kept upping me since they weren't making any money off of me (except those fees when I got it and the monthly after the first year).

That's the one I plan to close when it's close to year two. If I have to take a hit on AAoA, I'll let the Cap One stay & get rid of 1P as those fees are worth the reporting TL anymore; the unsecured will eventually "catch up" so to speak & with the higher CL's, that is bound to help too.

Best advice that I personally could offer with what I went through? Start out with that Secured one - I know it's a pain and all with coming up with the funds however you can fund it over time, decent interest if you EVER carry a balance, etc. I don't necessarily "advocate" for them but when we're in these boats, choices are generally slim. They really work with you & you can up the limit to $3,000 over time. Don't start trying to get too many at once either IMO; you'll just be paying ALOT of fees so I chose to not get all the sub-primes out there just to have more TL's reporting. Last but not least, ensure ALL your CR's are cleaned up as best as you will get them.

I know for a fact that there are MANY MANY others on here far more capable of offering more sound advice - and just as I listened to that advice, they'll bend over backwards to help one who is serious. I cannot thank these folks enough on here & my 2nd mission is to do as much as I can, share my stories, & help out.

Remember - this is all about TIME & PATIENCE. It's hard I won't lie - but I got there as did so many others. I GUARANTEE you can do it too

Take care & feel free to ask anything. If I don't know, another that does will pop in for ya!! Awesome site here.

Re: What a year of gardening has done for me

nma851 — Sat, 01 Feb 2014 00:14:28 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:

Good to hear from you again!
Congrats on your accomplishments.

I KNEW you'd see this & be HAPPY Guiness!!! Glad to hear from you to and on THESE terms versus panic & misery terms. It's all downhill from here Hugs to ya & you have a good weekend my dear! Thank you, as always, for all you did too for me - couldn't have done it without ya!

Re: What a year of gardening has done for me

xosamandaxo — Sat, 01 Feb 2014 01:01:02 GMT

Thanks so much for the advice

Ive had the capital one secured card for about 2 months. I have a $250 limit. I wasn't sure if I should keep increasing, or open up a second one. I'm not sure what 1st P is?!

Re: What a year of gardening has done for me

alvon123 — Sat, 01 Feb 2014 13:27:44 GMT

congrats!!!!!!!!!!!!

Re: What a year of gardening has done for me

Repo-ed — Sat, 01 Feb 2014 13:31:56 GMT

Wait to see what happens after another year!

Re: What a year of gardening has done for me

Shogun — Sun, 02 Feb 2014 00:26:58 GMT

Happy Dance!!!!!

Re: What a year of gardening has done for me

nma851 — Sat, 08 Feb 2014 13:25:06 GMT

THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH!!! I think the "congrats" on here makes me happier than anything. Kinda gives me a "I did my FICO friends proud" type thing

Now that my seedlings have been planted, and the hits taken for the 3 newbies, ANYTHING else would be more harmful than good. In all honesty, had I bothered to READ about how Barclay's reacts to this, I would've made sure they were the LAST app not the first. Then again, the "fee-me-to-death-for-reporting" card is closed which basically is a "wash" CL wise. Seeing what others have posted as well, I do believe this to be a bit of overstating/worry. i see it this way: if Barclay DOES some AA in the next few months, all I would have to tell them was with THEIR Account & CL, I was able to close 2 sub-primes to offset the addtional credit that was extended by them. As for Amazon Rewards, I did that for the 0% for 12 months. If that doesn't show responsibility to Barclay, then do what you gotta do! If anything, I've bettered my positions and bettered myself as a whole - and that is the ultimate goal for all of us. Due to their points/rewards, I'll be using it for the electric/gas bills to rack up points then PIF every statement. If anyone will have a balance reporting and PIF'ing every month it's going to be them & my util, right now including the 12-month 0% purchase is 8%. .

Cap One's QuickSilver Rewards is a backup - so while Barclay may see 3 new accounts (theirs included), they're ALSO going to see the 2 sub-primes gone as well. Either way there's a REASONABLE explanation & if they AA me, there's my approach to fix it. If it doesn't work, such is life. There's nothing to do about it now - the INQ's are there & they're all reporting (apparently they all showed up yesterday as I had alerts dang near all day!!). Will use Cap One now and then just to make FICO (and Cap One) happy but other than the above plan, I can't go wrong with paying things this way & PIF'ing Barclay each month as well. They'll see large balances PIF'd each month and me using theirs - should be a win/win.

TIME is your best friend and he and I are REALLY tight friends LOLOL. Like I said, these new seedlings need to grow - and now I have accounts that WILL grow with me. All I have to do now is wait for my welcome back to the 800's club!!!!!!

Nonetheless, VERY grateful to all of you again - and nothing but the BEST for all of ya! Have a great weekend

Take care & feel free to chat up some more if you have any further suggestions, comments, or questions.

Re: What a year of gardening has done for me

Anonymous — Sat, 08 Feb 2014 13:31:17 GMT

What a wonderful year for you! Congratulations!!!

PS- Shogun, I don't know how to say this but that dancing guy is like a train wreck lol. I laughed when I saw it, but I was also slightly horrified haha.

Re: What a year of gardening has done for me

baller4life — Sat, 08 Feb 2014 13:47:30 GMT

Congrats!! What an accomplishment!!

Re: What a year of gardening has done for me

ProV — Sat, 08 Feb 2014 14:16:10 GMT

Congrats on your success! It's great to hear your story, thank you for sharing!