@Anonymous wrote:Hello all I just wanted to thank you for posting such informative material on here. I have been lurking this forum for the past year since I got really sick and ended up in the hospital for a few days right after my first son was born last year August. Although I was in a lot of pain I was really bored and needed some reading material. For years I had been resarching credit repair, I even paid a few companies to "repair" my credit. Once I found these forums though I couldn't stop, the information was like a well of fresh water. I remember having to keep my phone plugged in next to the hospital bed so I could read these posts, sometimes 8 hours a day.
At the time I was 31 and had around 60k in student loan debt, no credit cards, five charged off accounts, a 12 year old beat up VW Jetta, a 520 middle score, oh and new wife, and that new baby, AND was making 20k a year. Scary! I can't believe it was just a year ago and I don't blame anyone but myself for being in that position but what scared me most was that I knew most of my family and close friends were in a similar situations and viewed this as "normal". I'm sad to say some still do. In the bed I vowed to take massive action to change my situation.
Fast forward to a year later and my son is as beautiful and active as ever, my wife the same, but I now have a 680 middle score. I've joined the union in my industry and make around 60k a year, I have a two year old car I've financed through my credit union. Through PFD and GW letters I've eliminated all the baddies on my account except an old Verizon CO that will disappear in 2020, eliminated 42k in student loans through negotiations and on time payments! And on the credit card end of things I now have:
Visa Platinum Secured $500 / CapOne Union Plus $750 / CapOne Quicksilver $1k / Home Depot $1k
Around 30% uti on all cards except the secured which i pay off in full monthly.
I know these numbers seem small to most of you veterans out there but this is a huge life change from just one year ago, sometimes my wife has to remind me of how different a man I am. I changed my mindset and am changing my finances one day at a time. This is from a guy who grew up thinking he'd always be in the "hood" with no way out, to now that much closer to being a home owner and member of the 700 club! More important than the material things is the autonomy and feeling of control I have over my own life and confidence it has given me cannot be matched. Thank you myFICO community members. You have all contributed to my small success.
If you have any advice on how I should move forward please let me know as I'm really trying to purchase a home within the next two years.
Peace and love.
wilson
My suggestion would be to add a Barclay Rewards card, good cash back especially on groceries, utilities, and gas.
@Anonymous wrote:
So far I've only held the Visa Platinum Secured & CapOne Union Plus for a year. The CapOne Quicksilver and Home Depot have only been in my possession for four months now. I applied to Barclays Rewards about six months ago but was denied. I'm not sure how long one should wait before applying again after a denial but maybe I'll give them a ring. I have about 8 inquiries on my report so I'm a little apprehensive about apping for a while but I will keep your recommendations in mind. I thought 20% utilization was ideal. I'll work to bring down that to 10% and hold tight for a few months.
You should just reapply for the Barclays Rewards card, your profile has aged since then. It's no good to reapply within 3 months after denial, but you're way past 3 months.
I predict you'll get accepted.
But if you don't, call the credit analyst number in "Backdoor Numbers", and ask them to reconsider.
wilsonreps wrote:.....I was actually going to ask about how to approach the Quicksilver CLI because I've seen great CLI in a short amount of time.
They usually give you an auto CLI periodically if you're doing well.The best way to do well with them is use the card a lot and keep paying it down to zero.You can also just pull the luv button (request credit limit increase on website); it's always a soft pull with them.