Any input is welcome!

[Anonymous]

Hey everyone! 

I'm new here and still finding my way around so hopefully this is in the right place! I'm looking to build my credit, and I'm hoping that I'm on the right track here. I've got a score right around 600, (it may be 604 or something, but it's sitting right at 600 with my Credit Karma tracker). I've recently gotten a number of credit cards, and I've included the list below: 

Victoria's Secret - $250
Torrid - $250
Stages - $250
Roaman's - $250 
KingSize - $250 
Pier1 - $500
Capital One Platinum - $300
Lane Bryant - $250 
New York & Company - $250

All of these were obtained in the last two months, and my budget is to pay off any balances in full by the end of this month, in addition to paying off any balances in full on a monthly basis. I have two derogatory remarks on my credit score - two charge offs, one which has been paid in full. These are both at least two years old so no luck in getting them to go away quite yet. I have way, way too many hard pulls on my credit lately and I'm absolutely done applying for cards. I think I went a bit crazy with it and applied for these listed above, with an additional 5 or so that I did not get.  I also opened up a car loan at the beginning of last year, so I had those hard pulls as well. 

I'm hoping to raise my score as much as possible in the next 5-6 months as I'm wanting to move into my own apartment with my name being the only one on the lease. 
If anyone has any input, I would greatly appreciate it! 

[Anonymous]

At this point, the best thing you can do is to not apply for any more credit and make sure you use the credit you have responsibly. Don't spend more than 10% of the limit on any one card, and pay in full every month. For you, time will improve your credit. Eventually, the bad marks will go away and you will have a history of paying on your card balances. A lot of folks on this forum call this "gardening." There is nothing you can do to speed it up, but the longer you make responsible decisions, the better your credit score will become.

Also, don't rely too much on Credit Karma. They don't give you a real FICO score, but the account history and inquiries that show on your credit report are from your real TransUnion credit report.

[nicholasyud]

Try to work on those charge off which is mostly bring your score down. IF u can get them off ur credit report, your score would rate about at least 80 points........U can look at some sample form online

Stop open new credit card and only let 1 card remain balance the month before u apply for ur new apartment. 

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

At this point, the best thing you can do is to not apply for any more credit and make sure you use the credit you have responsibly. Don't spend more than 10% of the limit on any one card, and pay in full every month. For you, time will improve your credit. Eventually, the bad marks will go away and you will have a history of paying on your card balances. A lot of folks on this forum call this "gardening." There is nothing you can do to speed it up, but the longer you make responsible decisions, the better your credit score will become.

Also, don't rely too much on Credit Karma. They don't give you a real FICO score, but the account history and inquiries that show on your credit report are from your real TransUnion credit report.

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+1. Very Nicely said. Also, quit applying for store cards you will never use, just because it's the only cards you qualify for. Good luck!

[NRB525]

Welcome to the forums!

Stay away from those store cards. You have one real CC in that mix, so work with the Cap One. I presume that is not a secured CapOne, correct?

Time is indeed your friend, and avoiding more apping for a long time.

You should probably consider the credit report and monitoring service here, if your budget can afford the $20 per month. The free sources for FICO scores are not reliable.

Good luck!

[Anonymous]

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mrkite33 wrote:

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pnr98062 wrote:

At this point, the best thing you can do is to not apply for any more credit and make sure you use the credit you have responsibly. Don't spend more than 10% of the limit on any one card, and pay in full every month. For you, time will improve your credit. Eventually, the bad marks will go away and you will have a history of paying on your card balances. A lot of folks on this forum call this "gardening." There is nothing you can do to speed it up, but the longer you make responsible decisions, the better your credit score will become.

Also, don't rely too much on Credit Karma. They don't give you a real FICO score, but the account history and inquiries that show on your credit report are from your real TransUnion credit report.

---

+1. Very Nicely said. Also, quit applying for store cards you will never use, just because it's the only cards you qualify for. Good luck!

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I've actually used them and they've been very helpful in a number of ways. Thanks for the input though! 

[Anonymous]

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@NRB525 wrote:

Welcome to the forums!

Stay away from those store cards. You have one real CC in that mix, so work with the Cap One. I presume that is not a secured CapOne, correct?

Time is indeed your friend, and avoiding more apping for a long time.

You should probably consider the credit report and monitoring service here, if your budget can afford the $20 per month. The free sources for FICO scores are not reliable.

Good luck!

---

I'll have to look into the monitoring service. That seems a bit pricy though. And no, it's not a secured card so at least there's that. 

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@NRB525 wrote:

Welcome to the forums!

Stay away from those store cards. You have one real CC in that mix, so work with the Cap One. I presume that is not a secured CapOne, correct?

Time is indeed your friend, and avoiding more apping for a long time.

You should probably consider the credit report and monitoring service here, if your budget can afford the $20 per month. The free sources for FICO scores are not reliable.

Good luck!

---

I'll have to look into the monitoring service. That seems a bit pricy though. And no, it's not a secured card so at least there's that. 

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Yeah, like others have said, keep your utilization down and let your cards sit for a bit. After 6 months to a year (or longer; don't quote me on this), you might be able to qualify for some prime revolvers. Also, if you can't afford a monitoring service, you can keep in mind that certain companies will provide free scores with your card that are generally reliable, if not decent estimates of your standing - Barclaycard and Discover for TransUnion, CIti for Equifax starting January 18th, AMEX for Experian (I believe) sometime later this year.

[JoshuaHolySpirit]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@NRB525 wrote:

Welcome to the forums!

Stay away from those store cards. You have one real CC in that mix, so work with the Cap One. I presume that is not a secured CapOne, correct?

Time is indeed your friend, and avoiding more apping for a long time.

You should probably consider the credit report and monitoring service here, if your budget can afford the $20 per month. The free sources for FICO scores are not reliable.

Good luck!

---

I'll have to look into the monitoring service. That seems a bit pricy though. And no, it's not a secured card so at least there's that. 

---

Yeah, like others have said, keep your utilization down and let your cards sit for a bit. After 6 months to a year (or longer; don't quote me on this), you might be able to qualify for some prime revolvers. Also, if you can't afford a monitoring service, you can keep in mind that certain companies will provide free scores with your card that are generally reliable, if not decent estimates of your standing - Barclaycard and Discover for TransUnion, CIti for Equifax starting January 18th, AMEX for Experian (I believe) sometime later this year.

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Capital One has the TransUnion credit tracker.

At least we may know what's going on with TransUnion regardless of the score meaning.

I am sure you're taking advantage of that.......all the best in your credit life-!!!!!

[takeshi74]

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@Anonymous wrote:

These are both at least two years old so no luck in getting them to go away quite yet.

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How is the age affecting removal?  Are you just waiting for them to fall off?  If so, hit the Rebuilding subforum and see what you can do about them.  Always do what you can to address derogs as they tend to have the biggest impact.

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@Anonymous wrote:

I'm hoping to raise my score as much as possible in the next 5-6 months as I'm wanting to move into my own apartment with my name being the only one on the lease. 
If anyone has any input, I would greatly appreciate it! 

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Start with this:

http://www.myfico.com/crediteducation/whatsinyourscore.aspx

Work on the biggest slices first.  Derogs can kill your Payment History.

When was the last time you pulled all your reports and carefully reviewed them?