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It finally happened!!!

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Anonymous
Not applicable

It finally happened!!!

My wife and I had a house built almost 3 years ago. When we started that process almost 4 years ago, I had credit scores in the low 600's. Fortunately, my wife has always had good credit, so we got a great interest rate and things are good, but I knew I needed to put in a bunch of work to get my credit scores up to where I could help with financing, or refinancing, instead of her needing to offset my extremely mediocre scores. I worked extremely hard at getting some things paid off and making sure I don't ever miss any payments. 

 

After joining this community, I got some knowledge and got to work. It was frustrating to see my scores just creep up in tiny increments, but at least my scores were going the right way. I got really excited a couple of years ago, when one of my Auto Scores was a 700, but my overall FICO scores were still mid 600's and all I saw was the orange/amber "Fair" designation. Still, scores were improving. Then, my "hobby" started to create some issues. I'm a musician(bass guitar). I play in a working band. Unfortunately, playing in a working band means that I'm constantly looking at new gear and fixing old gear that I use. Before I knew it, my utilization went through the roof! Fortunately, my band makes decent money, so I can make all the gear payments with gig money, but I have dug myself a bit of a hole that I'm now trying to claw my way out of. I'll be out of this predicament in a few months, but it was a serious wake-up call. I hadn't checked my scores in a couple of months, because I was afraid that my utilization was killing my scores. Little did I know....

 

I got home tonight, sat down at the computer, took a deep breath, and prepared myself for a punch in the gut, that I brought on myself. Type in the username and password, hit enter, and close my eyes. When I opened my eyes, my jaw hit the floor...YELLOW "GOOD" scores across the board! I blinked a couple of times, and hit the refresh button, logged out, and logged back in to make sure I didn't accidentally sign in to someone else's account. Scores were all still YELLOW "GOOD"! Not only are they all "Good", but I actually have one legit, bonafide 700! The other two are 693 & 694! I know the main reason my scores are like that, is because I had two collections that both dropped off a couple of months ago, so now, other than my ridiculous utilization, I have nothing negative on my credit! I know I'm an idiot for creating this mountain of CC debt, but I can handle it. Once I get past this one, major expenditure(about 3 months), I'll be laser-focused on clearing out this debt. It's been a long road, and I've got a lot more to do, but I can finally say that I actually have "GOOD" credit! 

 

Thanks for all the help. I'll keep ya' posted...;-)

Message 1 of 4
3 REPLIES 3
DoogieBall
Regular Contributor

Re: It finally happened!!!

Nice job on your credit status!  Chipping away definitely makes a difference.

 

I'm a working musician in almost the exact same position.  Even have the same scores.  I was pretty excited to see things go from FAIR to GOOD.

 

Currently, I'm trying to build up the business credit score.  Half the gigs pay straight cash and the other half are checks/1099. I'll have to see how those scores look at the end of the year.

  

R.I.P Cards 





Message 2 of 4
Remedios
Credit Mentor

Re: It finally happened!!!

Congrats on your progress so far 

Message 3 of 4
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: It finally happened!!!

Thanks! I appreciate it. It's also nice to know someone else knows exactly where my head's at...Smiley Wink

 

I talked to my wife for a little bit tonight, just to make sure we're on the same page(we are), and she started asking me questions about credit and how certain actions can effect your score and, thanks to this community, I was able to give her actual answers! That felt good. 

 

The key for folks like us, is just trying to make more good decisions than bad ones. I accept that I'm a tone-chasing gear ho with an incurable case of G.A.S., but making sure I stop impulse buying gear is paramount, I gotta get there. I'm probably always gonna have some kind of balance on my Sweetwater card, but it needs to be a smart balance. 

 

I'd love to know more about your business, and how you're building credit for that? Is it the band? If you don't wanna discuss it, I totally get that, we don't really discuss band finances with anyone outside of our spouses, so I really do get it. OTOH, talking to a stranger on the interwebz doesn't seem so bad, LOL! 

Message 4 of 4
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