This one has me totally speechless... 
@Anonymous wrote:Basically the title says it all. About 7 months ago I didn't know what a 5/24 was. Or the difference between a sub prime card or a store card. Points? What are those? I didn't know anything really. I only had a few cards left from over the years.Victoria Secret $1,000.Kohl's $700.Target RedCard $500.Capital One $300.I had late payments on the Target and Capital One. I had 2 30 day late's on the Target and 5 late's on Capital One (2=60 & 3=30).These cards are from 2013. My last late's were May 2017. Most these late payments fall off early and mid 2021.I started thinking I could "outsmart" the credit game and I closed my Capital One card thinking I could eliminate my late payments. I guess we all know how that turned out. Lol!Then one day I am sitting here and I feel incomplete. I feel like I am missing so much in life. I keep getting YouTube video's popping up in my feed like "how to get a monster CL" or "Best CC's in 2019". So I decided to apply for some credit.First I called Discover. I was approved for an $8500 Discover IT card.Hung up with them and called Chase. They gave me a $5000 CSR card.Then I called AMEX. They gave me an AMEX ED card for $1k.I didn't really want much else but I couldn't stop. I was riding a wave and just kept dialing.I called Credit One and they gave me a $1k Visa. (I had a $350 card with them and I closed it in 2016)Then I called Finger Hut and they gave me $350.2 days later I drive down to NFCU and open a savings and checking. I immediately apply for their Plat card and CLOC. I received both for $500 each.Also 2 months ago I was reading about the NFCU SSL. Yup... I did that one for $3010 and paid it down to $253. Next payment is like 2024 or something like that.When I applied for all these cards I was in the process of moving a business and opening another one... Sooooo I maxed out all the cards except Finger Hut. When I applied for FH they didn't tell me a limit or anything. They said a card was being mailed. It arrived and when I seen the limit I called and told them I didn't want it. It's on my credit report as opened and closed in the same month.I was at 99% utilization after the 1st month. Lol... Ok. I know. Not funny. Once summer passed and I was done with my relocation I decided to start trying to get these cards paid off. All of them are paid except Disco which I owe $2600 on. My statement date is the 25th and I will pay it off by the next statement date.After I went on the app spree/binge I started reading here. I realized Credit One was a huge mistake (I told you I didn't know anything about credit and nobody told me this is a builder/rebuilder card). So was the Finger Hut (I didn't know it could show up on my credit report since I never used it). Now I am trying to clean up my credit report...Should I close the Credit One? CHASE? Disco?I use 100% of all available credit on all my accounts every month. And I pay in full on the due dates (except Disco. Dec will be the first month it has been paid in full. I charge about $3 to 5k every month on the Disco and pay that amount off every month but there is always a $2 to $3k balance).I also take cash advances from my cards which now I read raises a red flag and I will never get a CLI. My Disco card gives me $1700 and my Chase gives me $1k. I take it every month. Sometimes a couple times a month. Sometimes I pay back in 24 hours and sometimes I pay back by my due date. It was always just an easy option for me and I didn't know credit card companies flag you as risky for doing this. I guess I won't be taking anymore cash advances. Lol!As you can see I have a ton of new and poorly managed credit in the last 7 months. Which ones should I close? How can I best clean up this mess (I know time is the the main option) so my profile don't look so bipolar? Since I took cash advances should I close Disco and Chase and start over with them in a year or 2?My Average age of credit is now 26 months. My youngest is the NFCU SSL which is 2 months.I wrote this last night to ask advice of this community but I also wrote it to kind of distract myself from applying for more credit. I almost app'd for an Amazon store card and a Walmart card. I had both in 2012 and in 2015 I went through a divorce. I was late on every single card I owned at the time. Lowes, TJMAX, Walmart, Amazon, Chevron, Macy's, JCP's and my first Credit One card. I was 60 days late on all of them. I paid them in full but they closed All of them except for Walmart. Walmart was $1k limit and they reduced it to $100 after being late. I never used it and eventually it was closed. Now... On all those accounts I was late on I wrote letter's to the Presidents and CEO's and asked for goodwill adjustments. All the late payments were removed. Target and Capital One said no. They said no 1000 times already. LOL! HEEEELP!!!
Don't close any of the accounts at this time.
Start using the snowball method:
1. Stop using cards.
2. Pay off smallest balance first, then next smallest, and so on.
3. On other cards pay minimum + something each month.
As each balance turns to zero, that will free up your remaining monthly cash to apply to the next smallest balance.
