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I recently completed my build/rebuild and I wanted to give a heartfelt thanks to everyone who shares their knowledge and encouragement in this forum - I didn't post a lot when I first found MF, but I read a lot and learned much. Special thanks to RobertEG because reading his posts helped me understand and deal with the reporting of derogatory and fraudulent information.
I actually kept stumbling into myFico while searching for ways to handle derogatories, and had no intention (at all) to get credit cards or work on my FICO scores - I just wanted to clean up the yuck from my credit file after a divorce and some fraudulent activity.
As best as I can tell, my scores were ~542 in July (I found a rejection letter). Using a lot of advice from this board and a lot of patience, I've slowly built up my credit from nothing to 3 secured tradelines, to nearly 100k in credit in about a year.
I did it a little different than most, because I was building/rebuilding in my 40s - instead of going for rebuilder cards, I went in for secured cards that graduated to something I wanted to keep wherever possible - I wanted to maintain long tradelines with a minimum of closing (Opensky is my one exception, because no one would touch me at the time), I got 3 cards ASAP because I wanted the collective math help for aging down the road, I ignored AZEO (and still do), and really only put effort into keeping utilization under control (<30%, though I don't bother any more). I definitely did a few things not-great to start with (trying to remove), but the more I read, the fewer missteps I took.
My first FICO pulls were 9/5/18 (after getting 2 secured cards, no positive loans - just one old closed card from the 90s and several derog student loan lines) reporting. They're now in the upper 700s, with plenty of cards, credit, 2 loans, and no derogs.
I spent a lot of time on this forum, on the phone with CSRs (from CRAs, to Collections people, to student loan people), a lot of time writing and sending letters, and a lot of time screaming in frustration. But also a lot of time smiling and looking forward to when something was fixed. I think I nearly screamed the first time I was instantly approved for an unsecured tradeline. We won't even talk about that time Chase handed me a CSP with my highest limit. I still think the UWs were drunk that night.
For those still building: I know it's hard, and I know it's an annoying slog, but if you're working on it, please know that you can do it.
And if there's only one piece of advice I could give, it would be "budget, budget, budget," (even if you don't make much) because that foundation makes everything work better.
Congrats man! I remember when you joined and slowly like everyone else. The more you figured it out. The more you passed on like many of us do and pay it forward. Between you and @Anonymous you all have became the SL experts go to's. Took a while but man its feels great once you get there. Enjoy the new life knowing you'll never return again to the way it used to be. Yes it time to fire it up!
@calyx wrote:
I remember you from the get-go for me...back in Nov. 2018. (Edit- that's when I joined I think...maybe Dec) I related to you. You're one of my heros! (MyFico peeps are all heros, have helped more ppl than anyone will ever know, hats off to MyFico supporting an open forum) @calyx So happy to read your post. Gives the rest of us more fuel in the tank!
@FireMedic1 wrote:Congrats man! I remember when you joined and slowly like everyone else. The more you figured it out. The more you passed on like many of us do and pay it forward. Between you and @Anonymous you all have became the SL go to's. Took a while but man its feels great once you get there. Enjoy the new life knowing you'll never return again to the way it used to be. Yes it time to fire it up!
Hah! Thanks! I remember you being one of the people I can recall helping a lot in the forums when I started reading. Your huge siggie actually gave me a bit of hope, even though our files/histories were wildly disparate
I have an entire side hobby/life where real life people have been turfed to me because they got in trouble. I hate that I messed up so much, but I'm happy that it means I have the knowledge to help others.
@GApeachy wrote:I remember you from the get-go for me...back in Nov. 2018. (Edit- that's when I joined I think...maybe Dec) I related to you. You're one of my heros! (MyFico peeps are all heros, have helped more ppl than anyone will ever know, hats off to MyFico supporting an open forum) @calyx So happy to read your post. Gives the rest of us more fuel in the tank!
Yup! I'm just a hair "older" than you - I remember relating to you as well - and I feel honored. It's hard, but when it finally comes together, it's amazing!
@calyx wrote:
@GApeachy wrote:I remember you from the get-go for me...back in Nov. 2018. (Edit- that's when I joined I think...maybe Dec) I related to you. You're one of my heros! (MyFico peeps are all heros, have helped more ppl than anyone will ever know, hats off to MyFico supporting an open forum) @calyx So happy to read your post. Gives the rest of us more fuel in the tank!
Yup! I'm just a hair "older" than you - I remember relating to you as well - and I feel honored. It's hard, but when it finally comes together, it's amazing!
Here's the post...In Feb. 2019! Gosh, it just seems like a lifetime already. https://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/General-Credit-Topics/What-Caused-You-To-Have-to-Rebuild/td-p/54926...
That day, when I read the posts, yours and everyone's I was like, yep...this is where I need to be. No shame in my game from here on out.
@calyx wrote:
@FireMedic1 wrote:Congrats man! I remember when you joined and slowly like everyone else. The more you figured it out. The more you passed on like many of us do and pay it forward. Between you and @Anonymous you all have became the SL go to's. Took a while but man its feels great once you get there. Enjoy the new life knowing you'll never return again to the way it used to be. Yes it time to fire it up!
Hah! Thanks! I remember you being one of the people I can recall helping a lot in the forums when I started reading. Your huge siggie actually gave me a bit of hope, even though our files/histories were wildly disparate
I have an entire side hobby/life where real life people have been turfed to me because they got in trouble. I hate that I messed up so much, but I'm happy that it means I have the knowledge to help others.
Yes its great when you help outside of these forums for friends and family. It's really nice to walk into a firends house party that you helped recover and now are homeowners. And that you had a part of making that happen. #Rewarding
@Anonymous wrote:
@calyx, I’m thrilled to read this. Many people come here and get past the initial worst-case and then disappear and we never get to know the results. I love seeing your enormous success at bouncing back from everything you were up against. Congratulations on making it back to the top.
I forget the author but I always loved this quote:
“Long is the road, and dark, that out of Hell leads up to light.”
I’m betting you can relate more than many to its meaning
Thank you - And I kept wanting to share an update but felt weird "bragging", when it's not that so much as "It's OK, we'll get you here, they got me, here!" I really appreciate how (overall) MFers are pretty non-judgemental when people are trying to fix things, or even if we need to have a "Come to Jesus" it's pretty respectfully done. So many of us have made mistakes, been in dark places, and/or had forces beyond our control ruin things, but so many of us have also made it out. I think it's fantastic that everyone shares their histories and knowledge to help others.
And I really like that quote!