Proof that if you keep plowing ahead, There's a hole at the other end of the tunnel!

[Anonymous]

I started at a 407,423, 389. Awful. I know. No excuses. Just threw up my hands with lifes curveballs. Plus after knowing I should look at my credit and working at a dealer where being behind closed doors, they made fun of every poor soul who didnt have a 700 fico. I knew my score was horrible. The hardest thing was to look. I went to all three cra's. signed up here.  I will say that everybody if they could afford it, should sign up for the 3 agencies , and myfico. It helped me settle my accounts for less and pretty much see things in realtime. I managed to get 8000 in debt, down to 2200 in settlements. Paid them on the spot . In hindsight i learned that i should have left them alone, but my concious took control. Done! Gone!

I only had 2 accounts open and reporting after that. Not a good look for a guy who's 44.  I knew that i had to accumulate easy credit with also knowing inquiries were gonna be alot but i just told myself to get what you want, and sit on the cards for 2 years. Most are 250 dollar limits. Just use 1 card each month, then pay it off in full. Keep my overall utilization at 20% and below. Its worked out well so far. I have 19 accounts, two with balances. Got my last 2 cards this weekend. The Lexus Visa, And the Toyota Rewards Credit card. Surprised in a way cause comenity makes it hard to get a stand alone visa or mastercard. The only carl i could not get is the marathon visa card. I just gave up on that. 

My scores are 549, 552, and 550. Its an improvement that i welcome all in 5 months. My method might not be good for some, and stupid to others, but it has worked for me. My relationship with them is fantastic. I cant imagine what these limits will look like in a year or two. I only charge what i can pay for in full. I think that helped me get my Lexus Visa. Since i have a lexus, it definately will come in handy. 

Here my cards in my portfolio as some of you have seen it a million times:

Simply Be $250

Burkes Outlet $250

Henri Bendel $750

Elder Beerman $250

Overstock $250

Express Next $250

Stage $250

Full Beauty $250

King Sized $250

HSN $1000

Boscovs $ 250

Loveloft $250

Brylane Homes $250

J. Crew $500

Abercrombie & Fitch $ 350

Lexus Visa $1000

Toyota REwards Credit card $500

Non-Comenity Cards

Credit One $400

Fifth Third Secured $600

Primor Secured $ 500

Total Visa $300

Firestone Card(Credit First) $800

So with all of this, Im carrying a $1800 balance. Its brought my score up 150 points or more. Got most with Shopping cart trick . If the trick didnt work, I filled out the app and got approved. I hope this helps somebody. 

[Anonymous]

Update! After only one month, I got a $200 increase from Credit one! Limit up to 600 today! Dont pay attention to the negatives about this bank. Do yourself a favor and do two things:

Pay your bill 3 days before its due via credit or debit. Yes its a 9.00 charge and yes its crazy, but it posts at midnight if its before 5pm. If you can, pay off your balance in full. If not, double your monthly payment. Cuts down on interest. 

[Anonymous]

I would suggest taking it easy on the store cards and sub prime cards.

This isn't going to help you obtain better cards in the future if you continue applying. I would also suggest you go in the garden until this time next year.

Your relationship with who is fantastic, Comenity? They will shut all your cards down quicker than you can blink your eyes if you keep binge apping!

[Anonymous]

Nice 100+ point improvement in a short period of time.  With responsible habits you'll grab another 100 points soon enough and get yourself into the range considered to be "fair" which will be a nice accomplishment.

I agree with the person above that suggested going easy on the store cards.  It's pretty limiting in terms of how much you can use them; if you bought just 1 thing from each of them per month you'd probably be in debt because you have so many.  I'd suggest thinking about the ones you use the most and keeping them and considering closing down the ones you rarely use.  When you get into the mid-upper 600's and want to apply for a really good card, having that many revolving accounts/exposure could be a major factor that holds you back.