Agreed just start hitting the dispute button and see what comes back verified and what does not especially if there are inaccuracies. Get into some sort of settlement or payment arrangements with any of the active collections and just get them out of your life, nevermind the fact that by paying them off it doesn't bump your score, you just need to get the Collectiosn debt gone, more so for your personal sake than debt sake.
Go purchase Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makeover at your bookstore. He is spot on, on getting yourself out of debt.
**bleep** than man owes me some endorsements checks
Bowsd Said: Agreed just start hitting the dispute button and see what comes back verified and what does not
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Yep....as the saying goes.....throw **** at the wall and see what sticks.
Message Edited by devhip on 05-18-2007 09:52 AM
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Yep....as the saying goes.....throw **** at the wall and see what sticks.
Message Edited by devhip on 05-18-2007 09:52 AM
They have to verify it either way. Just get 'em sent, that's the important part. 
Message Edited by devhip on 05-18-2007 10:34 AM
Message Edited by devhip on 05-18-2007 10:34 AM
They gotcha for the library book, huh? I guess it's curtains for me! (Lord where did I put that book!) Anyway, been there and done that, after the birth of our disabled child, everything got placed on hold, and slid down hill faster than the lid of trash can on an iced over snowbank! I thought it was hopeless, but little by little, month by month, and over the course of the past 4 years .... Take heart, then. Everyone's giving you good advise. Dispute, validate and dig in. Actually, your amounts aren't too bad, so depending upon your income, you should be able to cut a few deals and be free and clear before too terribly long. In the meantime -- and this is just me, and I don't know as much as some, but I'd wait for the debt validations to come back before applying for any sort of credit card, the reasoning being that perhaps some of your unknowns won't be verified and will drop off your reports. Once you know what you're up against, and have made payment arrangements or conquerred some of these, and have established a few months worth of payment history, try for Orchard Bank, though some would disagree. Bank of America has a program too. 99/500. You put in $99 and they give you $500 in credit. Wish I would have known about that, at the time. Live and learn, as they say.
Take heart, then. Everyone's giving you good advise. Dispute, validate and dig in. Actually, your amounts aren't too bad, so depending upon your income, you should be able to cut a few deals and be free and clear before too terribly long. In the meantime -- and this is just me, and I don't know as much as some, but I'd wait for the debt validations to come back before applying for any sort of credit card, the reasoning being that perhaps some of your unknowns won't be verified and will drop off your reports. Once you know what you're up against, and have made payment arrangements or conquerred some of these, and have established a few months worth of payment history, try for Orchard Bank, though some would disagree. Bank of America has a program too. 99/500. You put in $99 and they give you $500 in credit. Wish I would have known about that, at the time. Live and learn, as they say.Anyway, I went with First Premier, and though on a $200 credit limit there were $160 worth of start up fees, they've been good to me. Reported promptly to the CRAs, raised my limits according to how I paid them, not what my credit scores were, etc. They even lowered my interest recently to 9.9%, down from 19, and raised my limit to $400, and even though I maxed out twice and was over the limit once. It's easy to do when it's Christmas and your limit is only $200, and you have a $39 yearly fee that gets tacked on. But they pre-notify you of that. My husband went with Orchard, and had no complaints there either. Charge little and pay on time and you'll re-establish yourself. Even your baddies will improve once on time payments appear on your reports. It took our scores about 6 months to begin to improve, and it was rough, but, well worth the struggle. Even with collections on your reports and lates, on time payments add up and improve your score. You should be able to get to 600 or better within the year.
I don't know what others may suggest but for me, it helps to tackle the smaller debts first with as much over the minimum as you can send, while paying the larger debts, the minimums. Once the smaller debts are paid off, you can take that money and add it to the larger amounts, paying more on the smaller of the larger amounts until they're paid off. This way your balances decrease but so does the interest you're being charged. For every debt you pay off you don't owe another dime in interest, so you've saved money. It's just never worked for me to send everyone a little of this and a little of that. The interest kept accruing.
There are a whole lot of far more knowledgable people in here who might be able to offer better advise, than I, and I trust they will. The important thing is that you are tackling your debt, and so have indeed already begun.
The important thing is that you are tackling your debt, and so have indeed already begun.Message Edited by MercyMe on 05-18-2007 06:00 PM