When I first found these forums I spent a lot of time reading other people's stories about rebuilding and found it very useful to get me going with my own journey. So now I thought I would share my progress and timeline so far.
-Starting scores November 2014: EQ: 607, TU: 575, EX: 583
-Scores February 22, 2015: EQ: 678, TU: 688, EX: 651
The beginning:
Like a lot of college students I discovered credit cards fairly early on. I used them very responsibly for quite some time, until I didn't have a source of income for a while. I maxed out a few cards and then promptly tried to forget that they existed. I also defaulted on my student loans, and also tried to pretend like those didn't exist as well. I got very good at screening my phone calls for collection agencies. I lived for a few years without any form of credit. Besides ignoring these old debts, I actually learned very well to live within my means and only spend money I had. But those old debts were still hanging over my head. Fast forward a few years...
July 2014:
I decided that it was time for me to start being an adult again and get back into the world of credit. By this time it had been something like 8 years since I last had a credit card. I realized I knew almost nothing about credit cards and credit scores, so I just did a google search for "credit cards that are easy to get." I knew I probably still had outstanding credit card and student loan debts, so I figured I probably wouldn't be able to get anything. I ended up applying for a Capital One Quicksilver One card and was approved!.. with a $300 limit.
August 2014:
I get my first statement and go online to pay it. I pay it off and notice something called "Track my Credit Score." I click on that and I find out I have a 575 credit score. Essentially horrible credit. About this time I also decide I want to go back to school to finish my degree that I am only 26 credits away from finishing. I talk to my university and find out I need to clear up my student loans. I find out I am auto enrolled in cap1 credit steps program. If I make 5 on time payments I get a credit limit increase to $500!
September 2014:
I finally call the collection agencies that hold my student loans and set up a loan consolidation with all of them. It will take another 60 days to go through. I keep paying my credit card on time hoping my credit score on "Track my credit score" will go up, and it never really does.
October 2014:
I finally start doing some research on credit scores and stumble across these forums. I spend hours and hours reading everything I possible can and learn that everything I need to know about fixing my credit is right here. I pull my three free credit reports and find the following:
Positives:
Cap 1 QS1: $300
Discover: $1000 (Evidentally I had opened this card back in 2005 and never knew about it. It stayed open without ever being used until 2009 when it was closed by discover. So it report perfect payment history for the entire time. Now I am glad I never remembered opening it, because I'm sure I would have maxed it out at that time in my life)
Negatives:
1 Judgement from a US Bank credit card on reports until 08/2015
5 defaulted student loans through the department of ED on reports until 10/2018
1 defaulted perkins student loan through my university on reports until 10/2015
I definitely despair about the student loans and think I may be stuck with those on my reports
November 2014:
I finally start taking steps to build positive history. Signed up for MyFico 3 bureau monitoring to watch progress.
Finally get my accurate scores:
EQ: 607
TU: 575
EX: 583
I use shopping cart trick to open an Express and Jcrew card. I also open a secured credit card through State Department Credit Union. I learn about appropriate credit card usage and utilization.
December 2014:
My student loan consolidation is completed. I disputed some of the old inacurate info from my credit report. All old dept of education tradlines are deleted from my TU. All the negative payment history was deleted from my EQ and EX reports, but the collection agency lines for each remained on my EQ and EX reports. My new consolidated student loan tradlines show up on my reports.
January 2014:
I check my cap1 QS1 online and find out my limit has been raised to $3300!! Way more than I thought. I keep using my cards, letting them report under 9% utilization on one card and the rest zero, and of course paying everything on time.
February 2014:
I get an early exclusion with TU on the judgement! Deleted! My scores now stand at:
EQ: 678
TU: 688
EX: 651
I decide to start shopping for a new car, very nervous about the prospects. I apply online with Cap1 auto finance and am approved at 2.5% and purchase my first new car ever! My reports now look like this:
Positives:
Cap1 QS1 since 07/14
SDFCU Secured since 11/14
Express since 11/14
Jcrew since 11/14
Fedloans student loan since 12/14
5 Dept of ED student loans (EQ,EX) since 2002
Negatives:
Judgement (EQ,EX) 08/2015
5 Student Loan collections (EQ,EX) 12/21 
Perkins loan 10/2015
Impressive improvement! 
And looks like CapOne is really good to you! wow
Gardening until September 2025Keep up the good work! You're doing great!!
Why did you not rehab the loans?
Starting Score April 2013: 556
Good work so far, you can ignore that credit score from Cap-1 its the TU New Accounts model FAKO and no creditor ever uses it. Fico scores are the scores used most often by creditors.
