Wanted to share my progress so far after BK. Hubby and I filed in July, 2019, discharged on November 17, 2019. We gave up both vehicles in the BK, and purchased a 2016 Toyota Rav4 SE from a local dealer in September. Hubby had been out of work for two years with herniated discs in his back and neck, and had surgery in October for removal of three discs and fusion. We were going to PT multiple times a week both before and after discharge, and the cost of rideshare was more than a car payment and insurance. We live in an area with no mass transit, so we pulled the trigger on the car. Scores were in the upper 500's, and a company called First Investors financed us with no money down. Interest 11.25%, payments at $450 for 6 years. Since he wasn't working and I work from home, we capped the purchase at one car, and will keep it that way for the foreseeable future. No issues with First Investors at all, and we are making extra payments on it in hopes of doing a re-fi next year. The car is great, only 32k miles when we purchased it. We've done a couple of oil changes, rotated the tires, and had a front brake job done, but that's the extent of any expenses.
We decided to leave his credit alone until he was back working full time, and I financed the car in my name only. His doc hasn't cleared him for that, yet, but we're hoping by summer. In December, I got my first CC - a SurgeCard. Annual fee of $99, and a CL of $750. Interest is stupid, but I'm charging less than $50 a month, and paying it in full every month. FICO 8 on Experian at the time was 580. Second card, First Savings CC, came in January. $350 CL, stupid interest, and $75 AF. Paying that one in full every month, too, no change to FICO 8 score for that one or my third card, Indigo. Indigo also gave me a $300 CL and hit me with a $75 AF. Same song, third verse - paying in full.
FICO 8 jumped to 604 after the third card, and Ollo invited me in. $300 CL, NO AF, so I snagged that one. To my surprise, Cap One also invited me back in with their Quicksilver One card - 1.5% cash back, $39 AF, $300 CL. We burned them for almost 3K, so I was sorta shocked that they let me back in so soon.
Now I'm firmly in the garden until 2021. Plan going forward is to drawer Surge, First Savings, and Indigo. I'm holding Cap One aside for emergencies, only, and charging a recurring payment of $22 to Ollo and paying in full before the statement drops. I created a spreadsheet of the statement cut off dates, and the due dates. I figure if I have to use any of them, I now know when they have to be paid so they report a zero balance. I also included the anniversary date so I can close Surge, First Savings, and Indigo before the next AF is assessed. Cap One, I can live with the $39 AF if I can't get them to waive it. I ordered my mom's DD214 from her time in the Navy, and plan to open a NFCU account late spring or early summer. I'm going to let that simmer until January, 2021, then see if I can replace two of the starter cards with a NFCU card.
Very optimistic that my score will be in the high 600's by the end of this year. As some have said, the worst part of this entire process was making the decision to file. Recovery is slow, but that's ok. I feel like I have a better handle on how all of this works now, and the stress level is almost non-existent.
