Hello everyone!
I just wanted to say hi and to express some gratitude for this forum and others like it. I had to file CH 7 BK back in 2010 after trying to save my business with credit cards. After the BK was discharged, I opened a few new credit cards and mismanaged those, ultimately ending in collections. I gave up trying at that point. I became a cash consumer and let that be that. It wasn't until the end of 2013 that I got serious about my finances and really started realizing the importance of having good credit. That's when I started lurking on all of the forums, soaking up everything like a sponge.
I pulled my credit reports from My Fico and all three bureaus were hovering in the high 400's. Talk about depressing. I started a spreadsheet and formulated a plan. I went into rehab on my student loans. I then arranged pay for deletes on the credit card collections, successfully getting two of them off my reports. I still had a couple to go.
About a year had passed and I kept trying to get a credit card during this time, but no one would approve me, even after my student loans came out of rehab. At that point, my scores went up a few points -- nothing like I had hoped, but I was in the mid to upper 500's. I still had several of the IIB accounts reporting also. I decided to apply for a Discover card and was offered their secured product. This was in March 2015. I accepted the offer, put down $800 and waited anxiously for my card.
After receiving my Discover card, I waited for it to report. I think the first time it hit my reports, I saw a 30+ point increase on my TU report (according to the statement I got with Discover). I was ecstatic. I then got a Cap One secured card with a $200 limit. I think I had to pay a $99 deposit for it. After that, I started opening small store cards like Express for $300, Buckle for $300 and a couple others, but I can’t remember the order right now. I let all those hit my reports and held off applying for a while. During that time, I continued to dispute old IIB accounts and collections. Things would either age off or I would dispute successfully, but all at a snail's pace. I just had to keep reminding myself it's all about the bigger picture -- the long term goal of having great credit again. I didn't get in this mess overnight and I sure won't get out of it that quick.
Oh yeah, on a side note, I set a rule for myself at the beginning of this journey. If the money isn't in the bank to cover the charge, it doesn't go on the card. That's a non-negotiable rule that I still follow to this day.
Fast forward to mid-2016, I had gotten most of the old IIB accounts and collections off my reports, my Discover card finally graduated with a $1200 credit limit, and all of my scores were staying in the mid to upper 600's. I think my low score was around 660 and my high was 680ish. I got my first major limit (to me) credit card -- A Chase United card. They approved me with a horrible APR but a $5,000 limit. I was ecstatic. I even received a 50k mile SUB. It paid for a round-trip ticket to Hawaii and I wasn't complaining. 
But, at that point, I realized I could start getting approved for better cards. The credit bug bit me and, over the next couple of years, I went crazy applying. The good news is that I was approved for most everything I applied for. The bad news is that I applied for a lot…a whole lot.
As it stands today, I have 43 open credit cards, 2 auto leases (I co-signed for my grandmother) and 3 personal lines of credit. I have credit lines of $472,800. That includes my “white whales” – a PenFed Power Cash Rewards Card with a $35,000 limit and a PLOC with them for $15,000. I also have 10 different cards that have $20k+ limits. I never thought I would see the day I would have a $2,500 limit, much less over 10x that amount. My scores are also fairly decent today. My EQ FICO 8 is 776, TU is 724 and EX is 720. My BK is still reporting on TU and EX, so that’s the only thing I can think of for the 50+ point difference from EQ. It’s scheduled to fall off TU and EX next fall. I’m not rushing it. I’m not buying anything in the next year or two so I see no need to stress myself out with it.
The goal is 800+ across the board. I am entering the garden and not applying for anything for at least a year and a half. My sights are on the CSP and I’m so far over 5/24 it’s ridiculous. I know I’ve gotten a little crazy with new accounts, and I plan on pruning while I’m in the garden. There are a few store cards I would like to close, as well as a few others that are stuck and not growing. I now realize it’s not about quantity but quality. I'm going to enter the garden community here and look for support. I definitely need it!
Thanks for letting me go on and on. I hope I didn’t sound like I was bragging. I just wanted to say thanks to everyone who gave me hope along the way and to hopefully give hope that if you’re in the situation I was in, you can rebuild. It just takes patience and perseverance…and a whole lot of reading on the forums. 😊
P.S. - My original Discover card still stays in my wallet and gets used to this very day. It’s not my daily driver, but the limit has grown to $10k from an $800 secured card. I will always give them some amount of use. I am forever grateful that they gave me my first card and helped establish the groundwork for all the rest. I know they’re tough to figure out, I gave up trying, but they have treated me very well.
Thanks again and be well!
- Phil
Hi & Welcome to the forums, Phil!
Great story - big congrats on your successful rebuild...
@pjinky wrote:
As it stands today, I have 43 open credit cards
Good Gosh. Curious: do you actually make each card gets some sort of spend during the year to prevent inactivity closure, or do you just... go with the flow and whatever happens happens?
