When will I learn???

[Anonymous]

So about a week and a half ago I lost my mind an apped for Walmart, and after some serious reading about perks, benefits and approval rates, the Shell gas card. 7-10 day message on both. Synchrony sent an email within 2 days with a denial, and I never heard from shell. So I called them today, and yep, they denied me. I have GOT to quit reading how easy certain cards are to get. I know better. But I app anyway, because, clearly, hope springs eternal. So do denials, for me at least. If I ever get out from under this credit disaster, it will be a miracle. Thank you, dear old ex husband of mine, for leaving me this legacy to clean up. You butthead. I shouldn't be surprised at my dumb move to keep apping. After all, I married him, and that was not so bright either. Ugh. Ok. Tomorrow is another day, and hopefully I will be less mad at myself. 

But for those who are desperately trying to get a credit card, PLEASE, learn from my mistakes. It doesn't matter how many people say a credit card is easy to qualify for. Because it isn't easy at all for some folks.  Ok. Going into my corner to suck my credit app signing thumb and sulk now.

[907grown]

Go to a credit union and try to get a small credit card with them. Worst case scenario, get a secure card with them. Run it up, pay it off. Do this for 6 to 9 months, your score will increase and Walmart will welcome you in!!

good luck..... A lot of us have been there.(see starting score below)

[Anonymous]

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@907grown wrote:

Go to a credit union and try to get a small credit card with them. Worst case scenario, get a secure card with them. Run it up, pay it off. Do this for 6 to 9 months, your score will increase and Walmart will welcome you in!!

good luck..... A lot of us have been there.(see starting score below)

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A good plan...

[Anonymous]

I know exactly how you feel, wanting to get your credit back to a happy level and wanting it ASAP. I completely tanked my credit years ago. I lost my job, was unemployed for nearly 2 years. I proably could avoided most of the credit hit, but I wasn't thinking long term and had a "whatever" mentality. It was stupid, but I got over it.

The best encouragement I can give is to not beat yourself up. The fact that these forums exist and have as many people on them as they do means you're not alone. Everyone here is working towards the same goal. They're both a blessing and a curse. They give you encouragement from all the people who have turned their credit profiles around, but also see other people's successes and think "I want that too RIGHT NOW." It's a marathon, not a 100m sprint. While reestablishing a credit line is a great goal (and you'll get there!), the best goal you can ever set for yourself is getting to a point where you don't NEED credit (short of maybe a car or mortgage). THEN think about which cards you have and/or don't have.

As others said, first steps would be to check with local credit unions and check out their secured card offers. A few months with a secured card, regular (but not excessive!) usage, paying in full every month, and you'll be amazed what it does to your scores. Get some payment history going, get into the low to mid 600's, and then start looking at unsecured lines.

Good luck!

[Anonymous]

I have a Capital one secured card. I also just joined SDFCU. In the next 2 weeks I will be increasing my deposit with Cap1 and applying for a secured card with the credit union. I am currently in the midst of getting rid of crap on my report (like an AT&T bill, paid 7 years ago, that is reporting currently as a collections account for $41), so I can see what is actual legitimate debt so I can pay it off. I know better than to cold app for stuff, but I read the success stories (Wooohoo to the successful ones, btw!!) And get carried away, thinking well my score is higher and blah blah, stupid blah. My trans union is the absolute PITS, and the vantage score thing drives me nuts. After I pay bills this week,I am cancelling my memberships on experian and equifax, and joining here. I want to see real scores, not watered down famous scores that encourage me to do dumb stuff, because they are higher than my real scores.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I have a Capital one secured card. I also just joined SDFCU. In the next 2 weeks I will be increasing my deposit with Cap1 and applying for a secured card with the credit union. I am currently in the midst of getting rid of crap on my report (like an AT&T bill, paid 7 years ago, that is reporting currently as a collections account for $41), so I can see what is actual legitimate debt so I can pay it off. I know better than to cold app for stuff, but I read the success stories (Wooohoo to the successful ones, btw!!) And get carried away, thinking well my score is higher and blah blah, stupid blah. My trans union is the absolute PITS, and the vantage score thing drives me nuts. After I pay bills this week,I am cancelling my memberships on experian and equifax, and joining here. I want to see real scores, not watered down famous scores that encourage me to do dumb stuff, because they are higher than my real scores.

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You are doing what is necessary to get back to healthy credit.  Like you, I am taking care of my collections (only have 1 left, horray!!!), but that plus my UTI is keeping my score suppressed.  I love this website, but hearing about the Chase and Citi approvals makes me want to go out and apply when I know they will turn me down.  The only consolation I have is I go unto sites that has Comenity backed cards and see if the SCT will show up, but I don't go for it because I have enough store cards, but it satisfies that feeling temporarily.   Keep up the good work.  Once you pass the 620 threshold, then you'll find that the door will open some more.  Everyone is pulling for you and we feel your pain.  Now on the positive side, "Have you taken the thumb out of  your mouth yet?"

[Anonymous]

Thumb out. I just did my rounds if the sct to make me feel better. I have the store cards I want so I don't accept them. Just do it for the cheap thrill of turning them down. I am psyching myself up to tackle a big baddie that cropped up last month from Capio Partners for almost $10k. It took me this long to recover from the sticker shock. That and my ex husbands unpaid state tax lien are killing me.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Thumb out. I just did my rounds if the sct to make me feel better. I have the store cards I want so I don't accept them. Just do it for the cheap thrill of turning them down. I am psyching myself up to tackle a big baddie that cropped up last month from Capio Partners for almost $10k. It took me this long to recover from the sticker shock. That and my ex husbands unpaid state tax lien are killing me.

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Never been married, so I can't say I feel your pain there.  Have a life long partner who is great and he keeps grounded.  Wish I had advice to offer about this collection, but I don't.  Most of the collections I resolved were under $1k.  How old is it? and is it within the SOL? (funny, I just thought about s**t out of luck).  Sorry, I digress.  Any settlement that you might get if you can get one will end up with a 1099 unless you can pay in full and PFD.  I'm from Texas, so we don't have state taxes, but do ya'll have any kind of innocent spouses clause like they do with federal income taxes? 

[Anonymous]

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It's a marathon, not a 100m sprint. While reestablishing a credit line is a great goal (and you'll get there!), the best goal you can ever set for yourself is getting to a point where you don't NEED credit (short of maybe a car or mortgage). THEN think about which cards you have and/or don't have.

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There is a lot of wisdom in that quote above. A lot of us in this forum need to remember the thing we have the least of....patience. It takes time to get out of the mess we (or others) made. When you go to app...think about it, put it in a drawer for a day or 2...then see if you want to try.

Let what you are doing provide the fruits of your labor.

[Anonymous]

The Capio collection may not be legit at all. I have to find out where it came from. My brother lived with me the last year of his life (battling cancer) so if it is from that, it goes on his estate, not me. If it is from my daughter, that I also care for, it's an insurance issue. I haven't been in a hospital in over 3years, and that was an ER visit so I doubt it's that.

I never even thought about checking into innocent spouse status. Thanks for the idea! At least it's a place to start, besides threatening to harm the ex for not handling this to start with.