My introduction I am new

Anonymous · ‎08-19-2011

Hello everyone

I am here because I plan to get back on my feet and fix that score of mine that I ruined back in 2006. I opened a Capital One card and they gave me credit limit of $3000 which I started using forwards DJ equipment and other goods. I had a full time job and was making decent money. Long story short my immturity caused me to make late payments, my card was maxed out and i was making minumum payments. One thing led to another (car trouble, medical bills) I stopped paying on the card for few months. They filed for collection and I kept avoiding it. About a year later I paid it all off to collection agency at the end of 2007. Since then I had one more credit card and it was from jewlers store which was paid in full few monts after getting it.

Its almost end of 2011 and I am 26, been married for a year, have a car with a cosigner and want to start rebuilding my credit line. I am 599 right now and want to get back to high 600s (650-690). I do no own a single credit card at the moment only buy what I need with debit and cash. I have a full time job which brings in about 30k and a small business on the side which brings about 15-20k.

I will be active here as much as I can to learn more about rebuilding your credit line and get back on my feet. My wife and I are thinking about a house soon and kids so having 599 as a credit score is unacceptable for me.

sharpie · ‎08-19-2011

Welcome.

I got a secured credit card. Two that don't pull your credit (which is important) are Public Savings Bank and Millenium Bank. There is no place on the Millenium Bank website that I could find to apply, you do it through a different site, which won't be hard to find if you Google it. only

Both charge a fee, but to me it was worth it. Just use sparingly and pay off immediately. Sometimes letting a small balance report can raise scores as well.

The only other suggestion I have is that time will be on your side. Change your habits, plug away. I found that trying to "trick" the system is not half as gratifying as actually doing the right thing. I have defaulted on secured credit cards in the past, so just not screwing it all up this time is gratifying to me.

Basically, I feel like a complete loser due to all my poor choices. I might not even have enough time left in my life to right them all. But everytime I take care of something the "right" way, I feel a little better about myself. You are 26. You have plenty of time to make it right. And keep it right.

Best of luck to you and your future family

llecs · ‎08-19-2011

Public Savings Bank is now out of business, so nix them. There are several options, but a secured CC is a great place to start. Per FICO scoring, the limit doesn't matter.

Anonymous · ‎08-19-2011

Here are a couple of links to get the ball rolling on researching cards:

http://creditcards.myfico.com/offers/bad-credit/

http://creditcards.myfico.com/offers/no-credit/

Anonymous · ‎08-19-2011

Thanks so much for the tips on credit cards.

Out of the 4 that they presented which would you guys think is the best option in your opinion?

Capital One Secured with 22.9%V Anual-$29

or

Orchard bank Secured with 7.9%v Anual-$35

Im thinking that 200-500 limit is perfect for what i need or going to be using card for.

sharpie · ‎08-20-2011

@llecs wrote:
Public Savings Bank is now out of business, so nix them.

thats weird, i really just got the card in april, and use it and pay it. ???? wonder about this.

sharpie · ‎08-20-2011

well, so much for that. i just clicked to pay my bill and you are correct, they are no more. GRRRRRR. i got a huge jump on my CR as soon as it was openened. now i have to figure out whether to pay the bill and how to get my security money back.

@sharpie wrote:
@llecs wrote:
Public Savings Bank is now out of business, so nix them.

thats weird, i really just got the card in april, and use it and pay it. ???? wonder about this.

-Cain- · ‎08-20-2011

I believe someone said there was a message to keep using and paying your PSB card as usual. May want to look deeper into the website of PSB, the bank that bought them (Capital, I think), or the FDIC for that message.

OP try some of the soft preapproval sites to see if maybe you can get even a low limit unsecured rebuilder. Try Cap 1 and Orchard/Household if you're interested in going that route.

Anonymous · ‎08-20-2011

So I applied for Orchard Bank secured card and they say that I've been approved but at the same time its saying its being processed by creditors.
So i guess once its all done and I have my card its go time for me. Time to get back on my feet and straighten my credit up.

I wonder how long it would take me to get from 599 to around 650-680 range.

My goal is to be 720 by the end of 2012

llecs · ‎08-20-2011

Orchard secured was one of my first CCs and they were great.