Road to Credit Recovery & AMEX

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

It's just a fixed rate personal loan. You'd be taking out a loan for say 24 months and paying off your credit cards with the loan. Since it's not revolving, it may help your score and it most likely will have a lower apr. the issue is that you may not quite qualify for one yet. 

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So you're saying it's A.K.A a debt consolidation loan? 

That is a smart idea, and I've tried before, but like you said I don't qualify yet. My credit union has rates "as low as 6% on loans with 24, .6.25% for 36 months, but obviously I wouldn't qualify for single digit interest rates. 

[Anonymous]

Exactly. But when your score goes above 650 it may become a great option to pay off your balance quicker as the apr will be lower. 

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Exactly. But when your score goes above 650 it may become a great option to pay off your balance quicker as the apr will be lower. 

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As somone mentioned before with the credit card APR's, I wonder if the credit union would tell me what their cut offs are between credit scores for certain APR's. 

[Anonymous]

Depends on the cu and the loan officer you get. When I was a cu loan officer 10 years ago I had no issues letting people know. It would help them have benchmarks and know what to do so we could help them. 

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Depends on the cu and the loan officer you get. When I was a cu loan officer 10 years ago I had no issues letting people know. It would help them have benchmarks and know what to do so we could help them. 

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And hopefully they'll go above and beyond to make me happy, like a credit union should. 

I never thought about asking before, so this is some great advice. I thought all of that information was confidential. 

One thing that bothers me is how you can be approved for a card when you apply online, but then they just throw an APR and credit limit at you and they basically say, "here you go," without even asking if I agree to those exact terms first. 

[Anonymous]

I can see why a cu wouldn't give that out as people can try gaming the system. I'd sit down with a loan officer and explain the situation like you've done here and tell them you'd like their help and advise - while you know you may not qualify now, you'd like to know what steps to take and when to come back for their services. They should be accommodating. 

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I can see why a cu wouldn't give that out as people can try gaming the system. I'd sit down with a loan officer and explain the situation like you've done here and tell them you'd like their help and advise - while you know you may not qualify now, you'd like to know what steps to take and when to come back for their services. They should be accommodating. 

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But to be fair I am a partial owner of the financial instituion by owning one share like everyone else, so I should have access to that information when I ask.

I could understand if I was banking at a place that answered to Wall Street shareholders, but that's not the case.

Nonetheless, this is some great advice, so thank you for all of your helpful information!  

[UncleB]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

I can see why a cu wouldn't give that out as people can try gaming the system. I'd sit down with a loan officer and explain the situation like you've done here and tell them you'd like their help and advise - while you know you may not qualify now, you'd like to know what steps to take and when to come back for their services. They should be accommodating. 

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But to be fair I am a partial owner of the financial instituion by owning one share like everyone else, so I should have access to that information when I ask.

I could understand if I was banking at a place that answered to Wall Street shareholders, but that's not the case.

Nonetheless, this is some great advice, so thank you for all of your helpful information!  

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I understand how you might feel the way you do, but also to be fair it's the job of the loan officer to protect the other CU members from someone who might be trying to 'game' the system as Juanefny mentioned. 

It's actually a 'fine line' they have to walk... as a member you are a 'owner' as you pointed out, but the other members are 'owners' as well and their interests must be protected (just as your own interests must be protected from bad-actors).

This being said, I believe if you approach a loan officer at a CU the 'right' way they would be able to tell you what you need to know.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@beautifulblaquepearl wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

I will ask again. Is the current debt you're carrying from your previous financial issue(s) or more recent?

Most of it is from a couple of years ago. 

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What is your plan for staying out of debt going forward? Are you using this time to build an emergency fund so you won't have to rely on your credit card if an issue(s) arises again?

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I've recently opened a Barclays Dream account (yeah laugh all you want because of my Barclay CC problems). 

Right now it's earning a whooping 1.05% rate with a 2.5% bonus every six months if I meet certain criteria that are easy, such as depositing money at least once a month, and not withdrawing it. Right now I have $53.00 in it, and I'm planning on adding about another $100 or a little more by the end of the month. 

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Who's laughing?! If Barclay is offering a better interest rate than other banks, go for it. If you haven't already, you may want to look for ways to lower your overhead and reduce your debt.

[Anonymous]

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@beautifulblaquepearl wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@beautifulblaquepearl wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

I will ask again. Is the current debt you're carrying from your previous financial issue(s) or more recent?

Most of it is from a couple of years ago. 

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What is your plan for staying out of debt going forward? Are you using this time to build an emergency fund so you won't have to rely on your credit card if an issue(s) arises again?

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I've recently opened a Barclays Dream account (yeah laugh all you want because of my Barclay CC problems). 

Right now it's earning a whooping 1.05% rate with a 2.5% bonus every six months if I meet certain criteria that are easy, such as depositing money at least once a month, and not withdrawing it. Right now I have $53.00 in it, and I'm planning on adding about another $100 or a little more by the end of the month. 

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Who's laughing?! If Barclay is offering a better interest rate than other banks, go for it. If you haven't already, you may want to look for ways to lower your overhead and reduce your debt.

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Most definitely. 

Here's a few things I've started: 

Instead of a $20 Gillette razor package every month, I've switched to Dollar Shave Club. $1 for five razors, every other month, and $2 for S&H. 

Instead of shopping at Wegmans, I now shop at Aldi for Groceries--I save about $20-$25 a week there. 

Ordering food from a resturant is almost non-existent now, as it's overpriced and expensive. 

I'll also cut down to more generic items (such as hair spray, shaving cream, etc.)

Cut down on not-needed items, such as items from Amazon.com.

Lowered APR on Citi DC from 19.24% to 14.49%. 

 Looking around at different car and renters insurance, which will bring my premium down to $107 a month (for car) and $8 a month for renter's. Also, I get a discounted defensive driving course entry fee with this new place I might choose, so I can lower my car insurance premium by 10%.