Welcome! I was in a very similar boat as you (no credit for 10 years and then needed a car). I got a credit card in May and then came here in August when I couldn't get an auto loan approval. Started reading the forum inside and out, applied for two more cards, increased my scores, and then got my car loan approval! If only I had come here first!! I would have done things differently. But it's not too late to fix and adjust accordingly. I highly recommend reading as many posts as possible, and educating yourself on all things credit card related.
When you say you're going to pay your cards down to 10%, does that mean they are all carrying a balance? I would recommend paying them all off when you can, and only allowing a balance to report on one card at 8.9% or less (AZEO method). It will help bring up your scores. Because of the low credit lines, try to only use the cards occasionally and minimally, and always pay in full. If you have gone this long without credit (like I have), you should continue acting like you don't have the cards and only spend what you have. Just use them occasionally so you can grow your scores and credit limits, and you'll have higher scores in no time.
I'm also wondering how you have a score already. Have you checked your credit reports? Do you have any old accounts showing? Any derogatories? When I started rebuilding, I had an old Chase account reporting on my Experian, so it gave me a score (but it has since gone away).
Wow! We are like FICO twins🤗
I will take your advice and pay them all off, except one, keeping below 8% balance on that one
I wish I had found this forum earlier too! I am now studying it like crazy lol
I had ALOT of derogatory (from when I was just starting out at 19, and had no clue how important credit was😬) on my report before I stopped using any credit altogether...got married and just didn’t worry about it. Fast forward to now, a little over 10 years later, I decided to try to re-establish my credit - and to my surprise, there was no score at all😶 after I got a secured card, my score basically reset to “new credit” - like somebody who was just starting out. A little older and much wiser now - I’m sure thankful for that reset!!
I will take your advice and pay them all off, except one, keeping below 8% balance on that one
I wish I had found this forum earlier too! I am now studying it like crazy lolI had ALOT of derogatory (from when I was just starting out at 19, and had no clue how important credit was😬) on my report before I stopped using any credit altogether...got married and just didn’t worry about it. Fast forward to now, a little over 10 years later, I decided to try to re-establish my credit - and to my surprise, there was no score at all😶 after I got a secured card, my score basically reset to “new credit” - like somebody who was just starting out. A little older and much wiser now - I’m sure thankful for that reset!!
Slow and steady is the way to go, and it seems like you are already doing that. In a year or so you will look back at this post and see just how far you have come.
