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My official credit building post.

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siveriano
New Contributor

My official credit building post.

Hello everyone.

First of all  Ill like to give thanks to the advice on my previous post. So far I heard from First Premier Bank, and they will just remove the account without any payment.

 

I decided to make this post to seek for even more advice on how should I proceed next, after paying my collections I went ahead and pay 3 credit lines balances with the left over money.

 

I won't be renewing my Amazon Prime this year, at least for now to help me control my "oh I need to buy this 1 thing lets go to amazon" problem

Another thing that ill like to know is if I should close any of this CL to help increase my AAoA as my secure Wells Fargo card is pretty old. Also, my favorite card of the bunch is the "Discover It" as is the only one with actual perks.

 

While I wait the 30/40 days for my next credit report pull, ill like to get into what should I do next.
This is a list of my current credit lines, I have about $250 extra per month to dump into any of these accounts, so I'm looking for advice which ones should I pay first.

 

Thanks for the advice.




Message 1 of 9
8 REPLIES 8
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: My official credit building post.


@siveriano wrote:

Hello everyone.

First of all  Ill like to give thanks to the advice on my previous post. So far I heard from First Premier Bank, and they will just remove the account without any payment.

 

I decided to make this post to seek for even more advice on how should I proceed next, after paying my collections I went ahead and pay 3 credit lines balances with the left over money.

 

I won't be renewing my Amazon Prime this year, at least for now to help me control my "oh I need to buy this 1 thing lets go to amazon" problem

Another thing that ill like to know is if I should close any of this CL to help increase my AAoA as my secure Wells Fargo card is pretty old. Also, my favorite card of the bunch is the "Discover It" as is the only one with actual perks.

 

While I wait the 30/40 days for my next credit report pull, ill like to get into what should I do next.
This is a list of my current credit lines, I have about $250 extra per month to dump into any of these accounts, so I'm looking for advice which ones should I pay first.

 

Thanks for the advice.


Wells Fargo 69.4%

Cap1 #1 86.1%

Cap1 #2 0%

Cap1 #3 0%

Merrick 97.4%

Wayfair 43.2%

Lending Club 42%

One Main 90.3%

Discover 88.7%

Best Buy 93.4%

Macys 0%

 

You are getting killed on several factors-

1.  You have high balances on too many accounts, with some maxed out over 88.9%

2.  You have high APR on all your accounts

 

Here’s what you need to do first- STOP buying things on credit with money you don’t have! This is what gets people in trouble. Until you change your mindset and spending habits you will keep finding yourself in debt. Only buy it if you already have the money to pay it in full.

 

You need to have a written budget where you write down EVERYTHING you spend your paycheck on- your rent/mortgage, all utilities, car payment(s), credit card payments, and anything else you spend your money on. You need to write everything down so you can see your spending habits and identify where you can create cash flow.

 

Some people will say to pay off the highest interest accounts first, but in your case I would start with the lowest balance and pay it off first while making min payments to all your other accounts. When that is paid off, use that payment and add it to the next lowest balance to pay that one off next. This is the snowball method. Keep going until you have everything paid off. You have a lot of work to do, so starting with the smallest balances first will give you momentum and inspiration to tackle your debt. GL!

Message 2 of 9
siveriano
New Contributor

Re: My official credit building post.

Thanks for the input.

Last month I did my budget tracker using google sheets that's how I have been able to keep track and cut off about  6 subscriptions that i really didn't need such as google play, hulu, HBO and others, that's why I'm seriously considering not renewing my amazon prime as i really just use it for free shipping but seems like now they offer that on any order over $25 so that's another $110 that will help me knock another cl down.

 

I do have a question tho. IF I use the zero balance cards but I pay it before the statement report date, will they be at risk of being close for inactivity?

Like for example I used it to buy a $10 item then after the charge gets posted i immediately pay it.

 

This is what my budget looks like Smiley Happy




Message 3 of 9
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: My official credit building post.


@siveriano wrote:

Thanks for the input.

Last month I did my budget tracker using google sheets that's how I have been able to keep track and cut off about  6 subscriptions that i really didn't need such as google play, hulu, HBO and others, that's why I'm seriously considering not renewing my amazon prime as i really just use it for free shipping but seems like now they offer that on any order over $25 so that's another $110 that will help me knock another cl down.

 

I do have a question tho. IF I use the zero balance cards but I pay it before the statement report date, will they be at risk of being close for inactivity?

Like for example I used it to buy a $10 item then after the charge gets posted i immediately pay it.

 

This is what my budget looks like Smiley Happy


They will not be closed due to inactivity.

Message 4 of 9
siveriano
New Contributor

Re: My official credit building post.

Sounds good to me.
Like always extremely grateful with the community.




Message 5 of 9
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: My official credit building post.

Howdy from Texas! I have been trying to rebuild my credit for years. It has been as high as 695... I almost saw 700 and it would have been. I'm sure it has been at one point I reckon. Imagine that. It was so high I secured a 1k American Express like my father always carried, a line of credit with my bank, of 5k my second card with my bank for 1,700 and finally a third card later down right before a very dark time in my life for a whoping 6k card, ALL of which I still have  and are in good standing  (my credit score 590/609/619 Experian/Transunion/Equifax respectively currently ._. *Sadness* Don't ask how, I just pay it on time, paid it in full in 2-3 months of extreme ramen / quality of life loss months - three times, and am always on time.) It is really nice to see someone like you post something like this. I have read your post with great interest and it is very amazing to see people with such knowledge come help you out. I wish I could articulate my situation, let alone map it out as you do. 

 

However, because of your post I sure as heck am gonna try! That's a great idea, to use excel! I got a few templates I found online. Its a bundle back so i'm going to pray theres something I can find and tweak (assuming I figure out how to do that. Excel is a mythological creature to me). I too am about to give up prime. Losing prime video and music is going to be rough... I barely found out it CAME with prime. I also had a problem that I lost track of what I had ON recurring subcription! I had to dig through billing statements and cross reference things to hope to see a pattern. Luckily theres an app (Truebill) that will scan whatever you wish to give it access too (Yeah i know, I know) and find any recurring subscriptions you have. It tells you how to cancel them too. It's pretty nifty if you're like me and slightly forgetful! 

 

I do know that they WILL kill your card for inactivity, it takes a while though, at least a year. Beware though, its about a year and some months. They act sooner than you would comfortably think. Its about a year and 4 months it felt like? I have no hard numbers but I was surprised. Considering the numbers involved and my length with them it felt wrong. I just felt it was so.... swift. The time just passed and I KNEW I should have drove out of town to buy something but I just didnt get around to it. I got the Kohls credit card when I visited my now former love constantly. It felt like forever and I had it in the back of my mind and sure enough one day... my credit score drops... What could it POSSIBLY BE? I've done everything by the books! Impossible! Yep. Kohls Card is gone. Dereliction. 

 

The more I scan your uploaded excel spreadsheet the more I realize i've been doing that this whole time, just with a text editor. a .txt document. Its been upgraded to a OneNote file now. Its so hard to line up words and numbers... Excel would be far superior i'm just so excel-intimidated-ignorant. I am definetaly going to purchase excel now and go on a hunt for that template. It would help me so much. Thank you very much Siveriano for posting your OFFICIAL credit building post! Please keep everyone updated! I'm going to post something similiar! You are more than welcome to stop by and critique me and my horrible budgeting and credit building attempts and posts!

Message 6 of 9
Anonymous
Not applicable

Great advice

These are very wise words Scooter. I learned much from this particular post. I am exploring as much of the forum as I can and will post soon myself. I have tried everything possible and much to my horror and absolute despair it fails to climb, no, in fact, it goes down. I think the real issue is collection debt. Usually things go away at 7 years? Not mine. It is ever present being sold and resold, perpetually. I just checked my 3B report? I generated one and, well, the most recent one of a few of them just reported currently this month for a 5 year collections. Anyway, I don't want to make this a thread about me, i'll do that elsewhere. It is very cool you are giving such advice to people like us. I cannot afford someone that knows half of what you do, let ALONE someone of your caliber. I am grateful I can read a post of you helping someone and learn what I can from that. I'm going to be posting tonight I hope you see this post sometime before you close this account or move on to FICO9. If you do, I hope you get this thank you post! 

Message 7 of 9
Jnbmom
Credit Mentor

Re: My official credit building post.


@Anonymous wrote:

@siveriano wrote:

Thanks for the input.

Last month I did my budget tracker using google sheets that's how I have been able to keep track and cut off about  6 subscriptions that i really didn't need such as google play, hulu, HBO and others, that's why I'm seriously considering not renewing my amazon prime as i really just use it for free shipping but seems like now they offer that on any order over $25 so that's another $110 that will help me knock another cl down.

 

I do have a question tho. IF I use the zero balance cards but I pay it before the statement report date, will they be at risk of being close for inactivity?

Like for example I used it to buy a $10 item then after the charge gets posted i immediately pay it.

 

This is what my budget looks like Smiley Happy


They will not be closed due to inactivity.


If you are seriously trying to get out of debt, I suggest you leave the zero balances alone, put all your extra on your cards and not put anything else on your cards.

EXP 780 EQ 791TU 795
Message 8 of 9
Remedios
Credit Mentor

Re: My official credit building post.

If you use your cards but pay them off before statement, it still counts as activity so you're not running the risk of them being closed. 

No activity means not using your cards at all for longer period of time which may be 6 months for some issuers (rare) to years for store cards. In general, using a card once every three to six months will ensure you dont have to worry accounts being closed 

Message 9 of 9
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