topic Re: Any ideas on what I should do next? in Rebuilding Your Credit

Any ideas on what I should do next?

amclv0 — Fri, 16 Nov 2018 02:44:59 GMT

Hi Guys,

A little bit about myself I am 24 years old, my fiance and I are expecting our first child at the end of the year (December 22nd). Living with my parents growing up they lived paycheck to paycheck. I don't want that for my family, I am a self-taught developer with no student debt and I working now to get a developer job! With that being said, listed below is some things on my credit report and I would like some feedback of what I could do next.

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Credit Cards:
Discover Secured Card = $200/Limit : Opened Jan 1st, 2018 and had a small mess up with the payments making July(30 days) and August(60 days) late.

Citi Secured Card = $200/Limit : Opened Oct 1st, 2018 and have no missed payments

CreditOne Credit Card(unsecured) = $300/Limit : Opened March 1st, 2018 and have no missed payments

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My fiance has added me to her credit cards as an authorized user. All her cards are unsecured.

Discover Card = $3500/Limit : Opened Dec 1st, 2016 and have no missed payments

Amazon = $2000/Limit : Opened July 12, 2017 and have no missed payments
Nordstrom = $1500/Limit : Opened Dec 10, 2017 and have no missed payments
Chase Freedom = $1000/Limit : Opened Sep 10, 2018 and have no missed payments
Khols = $750/Limit : Opened Sep 26, 2014 and have no missed payments (her longest card)
Victoria Secret = $1250/Limit : Opened July 8, 2015 and have no missed payments
Forever 21 = $1000/Limit : Opened May 5, 2017 and have no missed payments

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Car Loans
GREAT LAKES FINANCIAL = $3437/Owed : Opened Jan 26, 2017 : from Feb 2017 - Aug 2017(no missed payments), Sept 2017 - Nov 2017(30 days late), Dec 2017(60 days late), Jan 2018(90 days late), Feb 2018(60 days late), March 2018(30 days late), April 2018 - July 2018(60 days late), Aug 2018 - Sept 2018(90 days late).

I know with my car loan it's really messed me up, I have talked to my car company and they have agreed that once I finish the car loan. They told me to dispute the late payments and they would not respond to it making the loan come off my report.

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Collections: Experian

DIVERSIFIED CONSULTANT / COMCAST / Opened : Aug 1, 2018 / $625

ENHANCED RECOVERY CO L / SPRINT / Opened : Feb 1, 2018 / $1245

NATIONAL CREDIT SYSTEM / BOURBON SQUARE APTS / Opened : July 1, 2018 / $3844
TORRES CREDIT SYSTEM / COMED / Opened : Oct 1, 2018 / $623

Collections: Equifax
DIVERSIFIED CONSULTANT / COMCAST / Opened : Aug 14, 2018 / $ 625
AD ASTRA RECOVERY SE / SPEEDYCASH / Opened : April 4, 2018 / $871
NATIONAL CREDIT SYST / BOURBON SQUARE APTS / Opened : July 12, 2018 / $3844

Collections: TransUnion
09 BOURBON SQUARE APTS 201 / COMCAST / Opened : July 12, 2018 / $3844

11 COMCAST 201 / COMCAST / Opened : Aug 14, 2018 / $625

11 SPRINT 201 / SPRINT / Opened : Feb 12, 2018 / $1245

11 TMOBILE 201 / TMOBILE / Opened : May 17, 2017 / $1344

12 SPEEDYCASH COM 161 / SPEEDYCASH / Opened : April 4, 2018 / $871

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Scores across the board

Experian = 507

Equifax = 481

TransUnion = 488

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What is some of the things I should do to get my scores up? Thank you for taking the time.

Re: Any ideas on what I should do next?

Anonymous — Fri, 16 Nov 2018 13:28:23 GMT

You should be focusing on what has gone to collections and getting current on your car loan. Have you tried negotiating with collections to see what your options are for payment? They may come to an agreement of what you can pay to resolve the ongoing debt. Start from biggest to smallest as this will help make big strides with increasing your credit score and making it easier to pay off in the end. Try and catch up on your car payments also as that has a big impact on your current score. This is the best time to get right with the debt you have being you have a child on the way. Budget the best you can to start bringing that debt down. Congrats on the baby also and good luck on finding that job.

Re: Any ideas on what I should do next?

Anonymous — Sat, 17 Nov 2018 14:53:04 GMT

It looks like your fiancé knows how to handle her credit, so that is a good thing. It sounds like you’ve already had your “Come to Jesus meeting” where you’ve realized your mistakes, so you are over the hardest hurdle.

I will tell you what has helped me tremendously was making a budget and writing down all my obligations and expenditures. I made a very basic Excel spreadsheet and allocated my paycheck to each and every obligation. This was the only way I was able to get a grip on where my paycheck was going every two weeks. Since I started in July I have paid off 4 loans and several collections. Another benefit of creating this budget was seeing what I actually had left over after paying everyone something. Over these few months I have been able to grow this cash flow to $1k AFTER all my bills have been paid. If you are interested I can send you the template. Just send me a PM & tell me where to email it. GL!

Re: Any ideas on what I should do next?

Anonymous — Sat, 17 Nov 2018 15:01:27 GMT

With all respect to MN1996, I would start with your smallest debt instead of your largest. The reason why is it’s easier to gain momentum by paying off your smallest amount, rather than tackling the largest one first and maybe not getting it paid down fast enough. Pay your smallest debt, then once it is paid in full, take the payment you had allocated to it and ADD it to the next smallest debt’s payment. Once that next debt is paid take BOTH previous allocation amounts and add it to the NEXT obligation, and so on and so on. This is called the snowball method, and it works! It also builds excitement and confidence as you start chipping away at your debts! Before you know it you’ll have a lot of your debts paid off and will be able to make larger payments to your bigger debts, while still having money in your pocket!

Re: Any ideas on what I should do next?

Brian_Earl_Spilner — Sat, 17 Nov 2018 15:23:10 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
With all respect to MN1996, I would start with your smallest debt instead of your largest. The reason why is it’s easier to gain momentum by paying off your smallest amount, rather than tackling the largest one first and maybe not getting it paid down fast enough. Pay your smallest debt, then once it is paid in full, take the payment you had allocated to it and ADD it to the next smallest debt’s payment. Once that next debt is paid take BOTH previous allocation amounts and add it to the NEXT obligation, and so on and so on. This is called the snowball method, and it works! It also builds excitement and confidence as you start chipping away at your debts! Before you know it you’ll have a lot of your debts paid off and will be able to make larger payments to your bigger debts, while still having money in your pocket!

He's more likely to be sued for the largest ones, especially if they pull his report and think it may become uncollectable. He should at least make payment plans for the largest and if he has anything leftover, use it to snowball the smaller ones. If he's having trouble keeping his car current, which statistically, is one of the last types of accounts to be defaulted on, that could raise flags for all the collection agencies.

Re: Any ideas on what I should do next?

Anonymous — Sat, 17 Nov 2018 15:36:42 GMT

I’d like to see that spreadsheet if it’s not too much trouble.

Re: Any ideas on what I should do next?

Anonymous — Sat, 17 Nov 2018 21:09:02 GMT

@Brian_Earl_Spilner wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
With all respect to MN1996, I would start with your smallest debt instead of your largest. The reason why is it’s easier to gain momentum by paying off your smallest amount, rather than tackling the largest one first and maybe not getting it paid down fast enough. Pay your smallest debt, then once it is paid in full, take the payment you had allocated to it and ADD it to the next smallest debt’s payment. Once that next debt is paid take BOTH previous allocation amounts and add it to the NEXT obligation, and so on and so on. This is called the snowball method, and it works! It also builds excitement and confidence as you start chipping away at your debts! Before you know it you’ll have a lot of your debts paid off and will be able to make larger payments to your bigger debts, while still having money in your pocket!
He's more likely to be sued for the largest ones, especially if they pull his report and think it may become uncollectable. He should at least make payment plans for the largest and if he has anything leftover, use it to snowball the smaller ones. If he's having trouble keeping his car current, which statistically, is one of the last types of accounts to be defaulted on, that could raise flags for all the collection agencies.

I did not mean to infer that nothing get paid to the other collections while doing the snowball method. By all means work out a budget of what you can pay each collection every paycheck, communicate this to your creditors, and do not miss a payment. They will be more willing to work with you if they see you are making a legitimate effort to take care of your debts and are true to your word. GL!

Re: Any ideas on what I should do next?

Anonymous — Sat, 17 Nov 2018 21:11:07 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I’d like to see that spreadsheet if it’s not too much trouble.

Send me a PM so I know where to email it...

Re: Any ideas on what I should do next?

amclv0 — Sat, 17 Nov 2018 23:38:38 GMT

I am going to call Monday morning and start looking into the smallest bill, what should I be doing about each one from the different creditors? They all are opened at different dates.