I just wanted to post in the hopes that I encourage anybody still struggling through their BK. I filed July of 2013. Paid everything off October of 2017, and received my discharge 1/9/2018. Towards the end of my BK back in the summer I opened 2 secured cards. Discover for 300 and OpenSky for $200. I raised both limits to $500 in November. Discover changed the secured to unsecured and raised the limit last month. I used them keeping my utilization under 10% and paying the balance in full after the due date but before the next statement date. That gave my scores the biggest boost. I then did the SCT and got a Wayfair, Overstock, and Runway card. I haven't spent more than $75 on any of these and the limits are $2500, $1000, and $1000 respectively. I used them not to get stuff but to show payment history and increase my utilization. Once I was discharged I purchased a car and traded in the car that was IIB. I also checked the pre-approvals and was surprised that I had one for Cap One and Discover. I accepted both and both have an 0% APR for at least 12 months. I didn't start checking my scores until August of last year but they have risen from 640 to 670, 571 to 660, and 608 to 642. I created a spreadsheet with my accounts, limits, balances, due dates, and statement dates and then I logged in and set each one to auto-pay so I could never be late again. When I get the email that the payment has been made I go back in and make sure I pay the balance to zero. Credit takes work. I now have 7 accounts, but I really only use 2. Once a year I'll buy something from the others just to keep them open. Also post BK the account included like FedLoan changed the reporting status to current which improved my score (Experian only) Get a hold of all of your reports and go over them like you're having a final exam. There are probably errors that need to be corrected. Good luck to you all!
