What would you do? (My journey after homelessness)

[Anonymous]

No credit + no proof of income = humbling experience.

I'll spare you the details, but I vowed to never be in that position again if I can help it..

1yr - $500 secured cc.

Few months later - Discover it $2250

Credit was a 730.. I was doing better than expected...

After a year of the Discover it, I lose interest. Dump $11k+ savings into stocks and crypto, ignoring the cards.

The 11k went up, but I recently checked and almost maxed out my discover it using PP while assuming my debit was linked.

Samsung offers $3500? Don't mind if I do.

Around a 695 score now, 41% utilization. I went back to being naive. Amex issued me a $2k cl 3 months ago and had no idea they approved me because I never received it. I call CS and it should be here today.

Should I pay like $150/month until paid off, or sell some investments and pay the full amount?

Upgraded the $500 secured cc after the lady assures me there's no hard pull, then a hard inquiry pops right up in CK.. give me a break.

Disputing it now. So yeah, I got too ahead of myself lol.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. 

[OmarGB9]

Are you asking if you should pay $150/month towards the Discover? If so, unless it's on 0% APR, then no, I'd pay it off completely. Why waste money paying interest? It's only $2250, and if your $11k has grown, then you should still have a healthy savings.

As for the $500 secured CC, despite what the lady said, I don't know that you'd have any basis for dispute. Whatever a CSR says isn't gospel, as it's usually in their written T&C's that a credit report may be pulled when applying for credit/applying for unsecuring a secured CC (which I assume is what you mean by "upgrade"). Who is this secured CC with?

Great job on bouncing back after the horrible position you were in by the way!

[SouthJamaica]

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@Anonymous wrote:

No credit + no proof of income = humbling experience.

I'll spare you the details, but I vowed to never be in that position again if I can help it..

1yr - $500 secured cc.

Few months later - Discover it $2250

Credit was a 730.. I was doing better than expected...

After a year of the Discover it, I lose interest. Dump $11k+ savings into stocks and crypto, ignoring the cards.

The 11k went up, but I recently checked and almost maxed out my discover it using PP while assuming my debit was linked.

Samsung offers $3500? Don't mind if I do.

Around a 695 score now, 41% utilization. I went back to being naive. Amex issued me a $2k cl 3 months ago and had no idea they approved me because I never received it. I call CS and it should be here today.

Should I pay like $150/month until paid off, or sell some investments and pay the full amount?

Upgraded the $500 secured cc after the lady assures me there's no hard pull, then a hard inquiry pops right up in CK.. give me a break.

Disputing it now. So yeah, I got too ahead of myself lol.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. 

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My advice is

1. pay off all your debt

2. start paying attention more closely

[Anonymous]

My score will jump back up as long as I pay the balance down each month. discover it cc is 0% interest, but ending soon and I'm not sure how to find the date (14mo no interest) The Samsung credit is 0% interest for 36 months so at the time it seemed like a great idea. Until my score dropped by 45 points.

I was told for the secured cc that after 6m.o to a year they will refund the $500 and update it to a traditional cc. 1 1/2 years in or more I asked specifically about a hard pull if I do so, and she said no that I don't have to worry. A minute later it popped up, I'm assuming they can validate my claim if they listen to the recorded phone call.

I should probably pay the disc. It card off in full to avoid future interest lost, but to do so I'm also missing out on interest gained. It's difficult to weigh the pros and cons for me. 

There's probably still a lot I don't know about the benefits of credit that I need to learn lol.

Thanks btw. 

[Anonymous]

Thanks for your advice. If I pay it off entirely (3k something) I'll have 0 debt again. Do you then, after a while, ask for cl increase on CC's or apply/accept offers for even better ones? 

[FireMedic1]

You can find the open date on CK or pull one of your free real credit reports from annual credit reports. The interest is much higher if you leave a balance than any savings would pay. Its its a win. You'd still have enough to do invest and be debt free. Agree with others pay it and no loss due to no interest paid. Congrats on the new life.

[SouthJamaica]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Thanks for your advice. If I pay it off entirely (3k something) I'll have 0 debt again. Do you then, after a while, ask for cl increase on CC's or apply/accept offers for even better ones? 

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For someone who doesn't like to monitor their accounts daily, it's best to pay it off entirely. Zero debt is a good thing.

[CreditInspired]

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@Anonymous wrote:

My score will jump back up as long as I pay the balance down each month. discover it cc is 0% interest, but ending soon and I'm not sure how to find the date (14mo no interest) The Samsung credit is 0% interest for 36 months so at the time it seemed like a great idea. Until my score dropped by 45 points.

I was told for the secured cc that after 6m.o to a year they will refund the $500 and update it to a traditional cc. 1 1/2 years in or more I asked specifically about a hard pull if I do so, and she said no that I don't have to worry. A minute later it popped up, I'm assuming they can validate my claim if they listen to the recorded phone call.

I should probably pay the disc. It card off in full to avoid future interest lost, but to do so I'm also missing out on interest gained. It's difficult to weigh the pros and cons for me. 

There's probably still a lot I don't know about the benefits of credit that I need to learn lol.

Thanks btw. 

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You can find the promo expiration date on pg 3 of your stmt under the heading, "Interest Charge Calculation

[Phana24]

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@Anonymous wrote:

My score will jump back up as long as I pay the balance down each month. discover it cc is 0% interest, but ending soon and I'm not sure how to find the date (14mo no interest) The Samsung credit is 0% interest for 36 months so at the time it seemed like a great idea. Until my score dropped by 45 points.

I was told for the secured cc that after 6m.o to a year they will refund the $500 and update it to a traditional cc. 1 1/2 years in or more I asked specifically about a hard pull if I do so, and she said no that I don't have to worry. A minute later it popped up, I'm assuming they can validate my claim if they listen to the recorded phone call.

I should probably pay the disc. It card off in full to avoid future interest lost, but to do so I'm also missing out on interest gained. It's difficult to weigh the pros and cons for me. 

There's probably still a lot I don't know about the benefits of credit that I need to learn lol.

Thanks btw. 

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Call Discover and find out how long the 0% lasts.  Disc has well-above customer service.  I must quibble with @SouthJamaica 's advice.  It should read:

1) PAY ATTENTION

2) Pay off all your debt.

What I do is set notifications on my calendar for the 2nd and 4th weekends of every month.  I check my balances, make or schedule necessary payments, review my free EX report, and every other month, pull all three CRs.  When you do it continuously, there's a hell of a lot less to do, and it helps instill the discipline we need to keep out scores rising or at least where we want them to be.

[SUPERSQUID]

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@Anonymous wrote:

No credit + no proof of income = humbling experience.

I'll spare you the details, but I vowed to never be in that position again if I can help it..

1yr - $500 secured cc.

Few months later - Discover it $2250

Credit was a 730.. I was doing better than expected...

After a year of the Discover it, I lose interest. Dump $11k+ savings into stocks and crypto, ignoring the cards.

The 11k went up, but I recently checked and almost maxed out my discover it using PP while assuming my debit was linked.

Samsung offers $3500? Don't mind if I do.

Around a 695 score now, 41% utilization. I went back to being naive. Amex issued me a $2k cl 3 months ago and had no idea they approved me because I never received it. I call CS and it should be here today.

Should I pay like $150/month until paid off, or sell some investments and pay the full amount?

Upgraded the $500 secured cc after the lady assures me there's no hard pull, then a hard inquiry pops right up in CK.. give me a break.

Disputing it now. So yeah, I got too ahead of myself lol.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. 

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Nice recovery from your circumstances. Try and make a  habit of checking your accounts daily. i check my bank account and the cc's i use regularly on a daily basis to see activity and what cleared. i especially watch my checking after i pay bills to make sure they showed up and cleared.

I have experienced that zero income and not being able to work feeling, scary. i would probably pay the 150 towards the disco a month. I used to dabble a little in stocks, its not as easy as just sell it and forget it and there could be tax implications and extra cpa fees, i used to make my cpa pull his hair out with my yearly stock trades when tax time came. its doubtful you can reverse that hard pull, at least i never heard of anyone being successful at removing one.