@Anonymous wrote:
Hi All! Newbie here, but I've been reading a lot. I figured I'd start a thread to keep track of what I'm doing and hopefully get some assistance along the way.
37yo professional female who never took my credit serious before now. I went through a major shift of underemployment and unemployment last year that tanked my "Poor to Fair" credit score into the abyss. I have gone through a complete shift and am on a serious mission to be intentional about my finances and make significant strides to get healthy financially. I have been a HORRIBLE steward of my finances and I don't want to take these habits into my 40s. I currently make about $90k annually and only have about $2500 in monthly recurring expenses.
Fun facts:
Auto Loans- 1 paid as agreed and closed. 1 open auto loan as of June 2017, current
Personal Loans- 1 Self Lender Secured Loan for $1000 opened July 2017
Open Credit Cards- Comenity Bank- $200 limit, will be at 0% usage at the end of this week; Open Sky Secured- $350 limit, 10% UTI; First Bank Secured (opened through my bank) $500, 0% UTI
Not so fun facts:
Scores: EQ: 462, TU: 464, EX: 490
Auto Loans- 1 reposession in August of 2016.
Credit Cards- Fingerhut C/O $700 limit, owe $881; First Premier C/O Limit $300, owe $492
TU- 5HP, EQ- 16HP (due to recent vehicle purchase, there were 9 related to this)
Collections- TU- 8; EQ- 7
There are a number of collections that are very minor amounts and I'm in a position to pay them off here and there, but I'm trying to figure out the best method to attempt PFDs.
Also of note: Student loans are in default and I have a public record for taxes on my files.
I am just not sure what would have the most impact on my credit, paying off collections, or continuing to manage my open lines of credit (which are all in great shape). I am a member of NFCU and I will likely open a Secured CC with them in the near future. I don't have any major plans to make purchases, but would like to be in a position to purchase a home sometime in the next 2-3 years. I'm more focused on saving and rebuilding my credit.
I'll update here as I go, please feel free to chime in with any help you can offer! Thanks in advance!
Update: EQ- 478, TU- 508, EXP- 539
Progress!! All of my new accounts are now reporting, except my SSL, which has updated on all except EQ. I think once it does, I should be close to 500+ across the board. My NFCU Secured card gave the best return, with around 30+ points added when it reported. I'm really excited to hopefully be above 550 by month's end (most of my accounts report during the last week of the month) and well on my way to 600+ by January! 2nd goal will be 650 by end of Q2-2018. I've seen this progress without paying any of my currently collection accounts, so I'm sure once I begin tackling them, I will see even more increase!
EDIT: Added a NFCU Secured Card $500 in August. That is at 0% UTI also.
