No credit card required
Browse credit cards from a variety of issuers to see if there's a better card for you.
Sigh...ok here's rebuild #2. Not so enthusiastic I guess. Failure is an understatement I feel. I'm on here for knowledge but I need accountability to. I think I will pull some family members into it, that might help.
The first thing that brought me here today was: Why is my Pier 1 store card the only store card I have that will not cli??? October makes the sixth statement and all others gave a cli anywhere between the 1st - 3rd month and are on the 2nd cli while this one just sits at $350. However, I'll track back...I shouldn't be focused on that although I admit I do get a small high from the increase lol. It's like an approval which I don't seek anymore, so softpull cli's are my thing. Pier 1 is the last card I'm waiting to cli and it hasn't happened so I'm just being a brat.
In the meantime the short of it is my whole credit picture won't improve until I have mulitple Portfolio Recovery collections and a mobile home "voluntary" reposession (doesn't matter) falls off in a couple of years. Everything else is on time and heading in the right direction. Utilization percentage is high so I'm trying not spend. I'm sucking at that right now. The majority I don't use. I do have balances on all, but it is a couple that I use. Cutting them up and throwing them away doesn't matter since I can access by website. I just have to stick to the fact that these store cards really aren't a help as far as purchases if I can get the items elsewhere much cheaper, but I have established newer credit and thoses are all good accounts and are getting higher cli's as the months go by except Pier 1.
Rewind to my past, I got my first card in college along with student loans and never stopped since. To me it seems like I'm on my 3rd credit cycle. I can see the first time being young but I had a second chance with a consolidation loan sort of speak and I got giddy again and got myself in a mess once again. This time the kicker was I got a CC closed with on time payments because of my score going down and over the balance multiple times. I'm still paying it off and some other things. So my credit is pretty much up to the rim...right at 600 across the board...I think EQ is much lower than that..I hate to even look at EQ fico 9. Inquiries are up the wazoo too. So I have the mix, I have the history, I have lines, I'm a authorized user on a couple of accounts, I'm good. I just need to pay off these accounts (excluding the collections, the collections are all 4.5 yrs old)...slow and steady...I have a 2nd job now, not much but something. Also I forgot to mention my car 05, is on it's last leg and looks like I only have a couple of options on financing a late model car. I was considering financing a car a couple of months ago, but I'm holding out for now since it's still ticking.
Thanks for letting me vent, sigh.
Navy Line of Credit $2900 balance/$3k credit limit
Walmart $90/$200
Cold Water Creek $0/$750
Kohls $190/700
Pier 1 $237/$350
Victoria Secret $440/$1050
Buckle $419/$750
J.Crew $472/$700
Kingsize $966/$1600
Brylane $1132/$1800
Fingerhut $1841/$2000
Firstly, I just want to offer a bit of encouragement, OP: I know your frustration, trust me I do, but you are seeking accountability, you are not giving up, and you are aware of the issues that have gotten you into trouble in the past, which are all positives. You’ve come to the right place to work on your rebuild: so many accountability partners on this site, and a wellspring of helpful information.
I also wanted to respond directly to one of your questions regarding Pier 1. I got mine back in 10/2015 and was approved with a $350 limit. I didn’t start getting increases on that card until about the 9 month mark. Now I am over $21K and it is rivaling one other card for my highest limit! It will absolutely grow exponentially, but with that being said, I also continued to increase my credit scores along the way. I think if you continue to work on that utilization and the collections, and try again at the 9 month mark, you will start seeing success!
Best of luck to you!
A big rule that I follow for rebuilding is that you aren't rebuilding if your credit card balance go up even $1 over last month.
The moment you start accumulating debt, you aren't rebuilding credit anymore, you're rebuilding debt.
Make it a habit to lower your dollar amount of debt every paycheck. Write that number on the calendar (dollar amount of total debt) and make it lower every pay period.
@angel70 wrote:Navy Line of Credit $2900 balance/$3k credit limit
Walmart $90/$200
Cold Water Creek $0/$750
Kohls $190/700
Pier 1 $237/$350
Victoria Secret $440/$1050
Buckle $419/$750
J.Crew $472/$700
Kingsize $966/$1600
Brylane $1132/$1800
Fingerhut $1841/$2000
You are in "toy card hell" as result of having too much fun with the SCT. You need to pay those things off, and sock drawer them while working to establish Bank cards from Capital One, Discover, etc. Your hurting your score significantly with all those balances.
$500 or less is how I define a toy card.
Carrying balances on store cards is already killing you financially. The APR on Fingerhut is 26% or so, and their prices are already jacked up way above Walmart or Amazon plus nothing they sell at Fingerhut is something I'd list under "necessary expenses".
If you are rebuilding your credit, the last thing you want to do is spend money on anything that is unnecessary. Work on your budget immediately and cut out 100% of luxury spending. Then apply 100% of your leftover budget on reducing debt quickly. Take on some extra work doing Uber or Instacart to throw money at debt and never again carry a balance other than the $5 you want to post to get your AZEO FICO boost.
As I said, you're not credit rebuilding, you're debt rebuilding, which is not the same. You can fix this, but you need a budget first.
@angel70 wrote:
I have a budget. I've started. I recently obtained a second job to throw at debt. I think all these cards are at that high interest rate. Ugh. Thanks all for replying.
Don't be too "ugh" about it, we've all been there or we wouldn't be here.
You're probably paying about $200 a month in interest (I'm guessing) or about $2,400 a year. Once you pay those balances to $0, that's $2,400 more per year you can spend on things you want (luxuries) or put towards an emergency fund!