Credit advice

[Lion556]

Hi ! I'm very new to the forum but have been reading it for awhile I'm looking for advice I'm Trying to improve my credit and my credit limits I have 4 collections and the cards I have are , quicksilver 1 - 1000sl

discover it -2000 ( authorized user ) shell federal -500 co owned , Walmart card 300 sl I can't get approved for much and I'm really new to credit in general what should I do ?

[SouthJamaica]

---

@Lion556 wrote:

Hi ! I'm very new to the forum but have been reading it for awhile I'm looking for advice I'm Trying to improve my credit and my credit limits I have 4 collections and the cards I have are , quicksilver 1 - 1000sl

discover it -2000 ( authorized user ) shell federal -500 co owned , Walmart card 300 sl I can't get approved for much and I'm really new to credit in general what should I do ?

---

1. Welcome to the forum.

2. Try to let 2 or 3 of your 4 cards report a zero balance each month.

3  Let the other 1 or 2 report small balances, 28% or less of the limit, each month.

4. Every once in a while hit the "credit limit increase" button on Discover.

5. Try to get the collections removed one way or the other. Best is to negotiate "pay for delete".

Not sure what you mean by co owned account, but that may or may not be something that's helping you. I would need to know more about it.

[Lion556]

Thank you so much for your reply ! The co owned card is a card my dad co signed with me so it shows up as joint card I will definitely follow the tips you gave me much appreciated 

[FireMedic1]

@Lion556 

Who are the CA's? They might be ones that pay for delete (PFD). Once they're gone. Easier to get better cards.

[Lion556]

@FireMedic1 thank you for reaching out I'm relatively young just barely make drinking age and when I was 18 I lost my job and my T mobile account closed out -995$ , and 3 separate loans I had out to build my credit all went to collections they are 333$, 956$, 972$  and a capital one card that I'm on a payment plan with and they don't seem to mind since they let me open up another account , thanks again @FireMedic1 @SouthJamaica 

[SouthJamaica]

---

@Lion556 wrote:

Thank you so much for your reply ! The co owned card is a card my dad co signed with me so it shows up as joint card I will definitely follow the tips you gave me much appreciated 

---

OK thanks for the update. If the co owned card has a long history, low utilization, and no negatives, it's probably helping.

[Anonymalous]

---

@Lion556 wrote:

@FireMedic1 thank you for reaching out I'm relatively young just barely make drinking age and when I was 18 I lost my job and my T mobile account closed out -995$ , and 3 separate loans I had out to build my credit all went to collections they are 333$, 956$, 972$  and a capital one card that I'm on a payment plan with and they don't seem to mind since they let me open up another account , thanks again @FireMedic1 @SouthJamaica 

---

The thing that's killing your scores is the collections, and you've already received some good advice on them. You also have 3 personal cards, so you can practice AZEO when you want to maximize your scores. That's what @SouthJamaica referred to, where you pay down all your cards except one, and let the final card post with a small balance (IME, under 4% may help even more than under 28%, though that may be scorecard dependent). Though the card you should pick to post with a balance is the QS1 -- AU cards like the Discover don't count, CU cards like the Shell FCU card have issues under some scoring models, and the same applies to store cards like the Walmart card, so all those should report $0. The goal is to have those balances report to the credit bureaus, which means you'll have to pay them off before the due date. Usually banks report to the bureaus when the statement closes, so pay them off a couple days before and avoid any pending charges for that period. Three personal cards are more than enough to build a solid credit history as they age, though you might have to get rid of the QS1 eventually because of the AF. Finally, look at your finances as a whole to make sure you don't get trapped again like you did when you were 18. An emergency fund is vital, because it can turn an unexpected expense from a nerve-wracking event where you have to scramble to find the money and not destroy your credit, to something you just pay off and move on.

[FireMedic1]

---

@Lion556 wrote:

@FireMedic1 thank you for reaching out I'm relatively young just barely make drinking age and when I was 18 I lost my job and my T mobile account closed out -995$ , and 3 separate loans I had out to build my credit all went to collections they are 333$, 956$, 972$  and a capital one card that I'm on a payment plan with and they don't seem to mind since they let me open up another account , thanks again @FireMedic1 @SouthJamaica 

---

@Lion556 

Once again. Give us the names of the collection agencies. Some will delete themselves off your credit report if settled or paid. For instance if all of them are LVNV who PFD. Once they have a $0 balance. They're all gone of your reports for example. No CA's on reports. Big score change. Welcome to the forums.