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Rebuild 2.0 FKA I had been doing great

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Late2theGame
New Contributor

Re: I had been doing great...

Welcome back, stay positive, stay strong, make another plan, and commit.

Something I do that helps me out is this. I learned a long time ago that credit cards are not an extension of your wealth. I think most everybody here has learned that through one way or another, unfortunately there are many throughout the generations that get their first CC and look at it as cash when the reality is it's not our money we are spending. Now I don't think that's you, and that's not why I bring it up, it's what we do with that information, and what I have recently learned to do, helps me out greatly.

I treat my CC like a debit card, if it's not in the account, then I don't charge it.

So on my cap 1 QS I have a $300 limit, due to the credit steps CLI it goes up to $500 sometime in the next month and a half. So I also have a Cap1 360 checking account that I don't touch. It's balance is always $500, I do not use this checking to pay the cc but keep it for emergencies. I always PIF (weekly if not daily) so I never pay interest and I have my cap 1 QS set to decline purchases exceeding the available balance. If I ever get in trouble and have to Max this cc, I have the money to pay it off.

I do the same things for my other cards too. I have a USAA Mil Affiliate card with a 1K CL, I keep 1K in my USAA checking that I never use as emergency pay off money for that card too. My Alaska USA card is a secured card with a 2.5k CL. I checked with the CU and worse case scenario I could close the card and use the SD to pay it off, I do not like that Idea, so I saved till I got 3k in my cap 360 savings.

I don't do this just with CL either. I only use 1 of my 3 financial institutions ffrormal budgeted expenses [AK USA], and I keep an extra $500 in that checking and 1.5K in that savings for emergency money. Even my USAA savings has a 1K balance in it at all times.

I don't have a super high paying job, and the state I live in has a Cost of Living of 150% the national average, so it took me some time to save this, though considerably less than one might think after evaluating what I could cut from my personal Living expenses.

I do understand that everybody's living situation is different, and that my approach might require some people keeping their CL lower than they would like and saving for longer than they would like before applying for new TL. Maybe it's not for everybody, but it has certainly helped me.

Not only from the standpoint of building credit, but also keeps the stress levels down and the moral up. I use my cards constantly, but never owe much on them, so the likely hood of overspending creeping up on me is slim to none. Even what I do owe, I know I have in my budgeted expenses account, with an extra $500 unplanned/emergency cash fund. And if something big sneaks up on my, I have managed over time to save enough money to pay each card off in full once, and still have a couple Grand to play with and if that's not enough I can close my secured card (which would have nothing charged on it) for an extra 2.5k.

My goal is basically this...

1.) Set a budget and stick to it, have the cash for that budget set aside.
2.) Never charge anything on a card unless you have the cash for that budgeted and set aside.
3.) Evaluating your spending and save an appropriate overdraft/emergency fund to cover 1 pay period (I get paid weekly for me so $500 is a good goal
4.) Before you apply for a new revolver, have enough emergency cash set aside to pick all other revolvers (and the new revolver you will be applying for, if you were forced to Max them out in an emergency.)
5.) Set any additional savings goals to cover for catastrophic emergencies.
6.) Stay disciplined and constantly evaluate where you can cut spending throughout this process.





Starting Score: EQ:791 | TU:785 | EX:781
Current Score: EQ:791 | TU:785 | EX:781
Goal Score: EQ:800 | TU:800 | EX:800


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Message 11 of 131
ThetoriParadox
Frequent Contributor

Re: I had been doing great...

@late2thegame

I love your plan!! I will for sure adopt some of those saving strategies.

I definitely have learned the value of budgeting and saving the last rebuild and am finally 100% on board and making progress.

I have no lines of credit right now, so I am just paying down collections, COs, my auto payment (current), student loans (current), and my monthly bills. I thought about finding a CC but i think for the moment, for my situation I am going to pay back all the creditors and not get blacklisted and maybe get back in with one of them when I am ready. 

Good luck to you! It sounds like you've got a solid gameplan.

RE-BUILD 2.0
Venmo Card- Mission Lane-Cap1 Walmart- Amex Optima- Cap1 QS- Cap 1 QS1- NFCU Nrewards Secured- Williams Sonoma- Care Credit- Grain- scores hovering around 644-653
Message 12 of 131
ThetoriParadox
Frequent Contributor

Re: I had been doing great...

UPDATE

called the hospital RE medical collections and of course got the run around.

Also had my car's 4 wheel drive go out (its a record winter here in tahoe)

so had to pull from savings and ask for an advance at work to fix it

two steps forward and like ten steps back it seems....

getting there and keeping my head up...

RE-BUILD 2.0
Venmo Card- Mission Lane-Cap1 Walmart- Amex Optima- Cap1 QS- Cap 1 QS1- NFCU Nrewards Secured- Williams Sonoma- Care Credit- Grain- scores hovering around 644-653
Message 13 of 131
ThetoriParadox
Frequent Contributor

Re: I had been doing great...

Got a TU EE on a First premier co from 2012. TOOK ONE DAY! GO TU!

filed the dispute with EQ today

EX wont let me because i had disputed information on that account previously... so waiting until august on that report....

small wins though.

RE-BUILD 2.0
Venmo Card- Mission Lane-Cap1 Walmart- Amex Optima- Cap1 QS- Cap 1 QS1- NFCU Nrewards Secured- Williams Sonoma- Care Credit- Grain- scores hovering around 644-653
Message 14 of 131
ThetoriParadox
Frequent Contributor

Re: I had been doing great...

Plan of action - Get the items reporting over 100% of util down!

These are all charged off

Cap 1 $2407

Amex $1307

Applied bank $818

Cap 1 $707

Cap 1 $618

Discover $367

Tackling Discover first!! Calling them on Monday to see if they will set up a payment plan similar to the one cap 1 has established with me.

Applied Bank 119

 

RE-BUILD 2.0
Venmo Card- Mission Lane-Cap1 Walmart- Amex Optima- Cap1 QS- Cap 1 QS1- NFCU Nrewards Secured- Williams Sonoma- Care Credit- Grain- scores hovering around 644-653
Message 15 of 131
ThetoriParadox
Frequent Contributor

Re: I had been doing great...

*just a vent*

I keep getting pre-approvals for First Premier. I have had them in the past and KNOW how predatory they are, I have been diligent about NOT applying even though I have 0 revolving credit. I do not think I am in a position to manage that card well yet, which is hard to be honest about.

But days like today, when I am almost out of gas and had to pull from my cash savings stash to fix an issue with the car, I think about how nice a CC would be...

Ugh.

Any thoughts or suggestions?

I am about to be in a better place financially soon, maybe even as soon as the next paycheck (17th of April) There are three paychecks in May, although my rent is going up by 400 dollars. I have picked up quite a few side gigs in addition to my full time job.  I have reeled in my spending a huge amount so I am making baby steps but sometimes it stings and feels like you're in the same position you've been in the whole time.

Thanks for listening guys, nice to get it all off my chest.  I talk to my partner about it but I can tell he doesn't quite get it I make 3x as much as him but my expenses are 10x what his are... so he's just like please do not complain about making 2400/ month when he makes like 900. Which I totally get...

/rant Smiley Happy

RE-BUILD 2.0
Venmo Card- Mission Lane-Cap1 Walmart- Amex Optima- Cap1 QS- Cap 1 QS1- NFCU Nrewards Secured- Williams Sonoma- Care Credit- Grain- scores hovering around 644-653
Message 16 of 131
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: I had been doing great...

Reading your thread, I think you’re doing it right for a couple reasons. One, you’re not applying for First Premier. Don’t do it. They’re an awful near-loanshark and you don’t need that in your life. Moreso though, as tight as it gets sometimes (such as what you mentioned with needing gas and a car repair), you found a way without adding debt. That mentality that you’re developing now out of necessity will serve you very well once you get back into the credit game. Keep plugging away at this, you’ve got it in hand and you’re making good gains. It will be worth it ten times over when you emerge debt-free.
Message 17 of 131
ThetoriParadox
Frequent Contributor

Re: I had been doing great...

@imthedevil thanks, I appreciate that a lot. 

It is this rollercoaster of "need to pay down" and "need revolving lines" and "need to save".

Thanks for the response.

RE-BUILD 2.0
Venmo Card- Mission Lane-Cap1 Walmart- Amex Optima- Cap1 QS- Cap 1 QS1- NFCU Nrewards Secured- Williams Sonoma- Care Credit- Grain- scores hovering around 644-653
Message 18 of 131
Egaffne2
Regular Contributor

Re: I had been doing great...

Hey I dono if u still have the Caine and Weiner account but I had them too for 97$. I disputed it and it was unpaid and Experian and TransUnion deleted it the next day, it wasn't reported to Equifax. Hope that helps, good luck! And don't feel bad stuff happens I'm currently rebuilding from disaster also!
Current 2023 FICO 8 score - 760 (EX) 758 (TU) 762 (EQ) (FICO 9s seem to be significantly higher)
Starting score - 530
Discover it - $4,200
Citi Custom Cash - $6,600
CFNA Firestone - $3,200
Amex BCE - $2,500
Mission Lane - $1,100
Chase slate (AU) - $3,000
Chase Freedom Flex - $11,100
Lowes Advantage card - $10,000
PNC poop points- $4,500
2 student loans 93% paid off
AMEX loan only 7% paid off so far
Total current Utilization among all accounts- 20%


Message 19 of 131
pgtackle2003
Frequent Contributor

Re: I had been doing great...

I must applaud the mere fact you recognize you are not ready yet to responsibly manage a credit card. The times get tough sometimes but it appears you are working your way through those best you can. Couldn't agree more with you and the other posters that First Premier is the worst CC lender there is (in my opinion). They might as well be considered a payday lender the way I see it

Message 20 of 131
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