Rebuilding my credit

Anonymous · ‎06-27-2019

Hey All!

I am finally buckling down and starting to rebuild my credit! In my early 20's I haven't been great at paying on time and just never really looked into building or keeping good credit until now.... sad story is I've opened and co-signed my ex spouse in trying to help him and not myself. No wonder why he's my ex now! lol! Anyways long story short I was never taught the value of having great credit and now I'm obsessed in rebuilding my credit in order to buy a home in the future and to be financially free of being in debt for soo long. I have been reading success stories and I am now ready to be an adult now that I'm 31. Thank you in advance for all the advice and support in this long journey to being debt free!

Here is my current profile... It's embarassing but we all have to start somewhere, please let me know your advice or suggestions (I am open to hearing the hard truth... I won't be butt hurt! )

EXP - 536 / TU - 557 / EQ - 571

My GOAL is to get into the 600-650 range by the end of this year 2019 (crossing my fingers... is it possible?)

I currently have a high utl... I am now trying to pay off the debt using the Dave Ramsey method, also trying to pay at least twice a month on the lowest credit limit accounts first.

Open Accounts

Cap One Auto - $15,280/$23k (30/60/90 day Lates - opened Sept '14 ... repo and then got my car back paying on time in the last 11 months )

Cap One Journey CC - $46/$300 (recently opened Jun '19)

Credit One Visa - $366/$400 (recently opened Mar '19)

OpenSky - $255/$300 (opened Oct '17)

Fingerhut - $28/$400 (Recently opened Jun '19)

AU on these Accounts

Cap One QS1 - $1477/$1500

Best Buy Citi - $1400/$1500

Credit One Visa - $882/$900

Credit One MC - $458/$500

Collections

Port. Rec. - $968 (Charge off Cap One) drops in Apr '25 shows on TU/EQ/EXP

Enhanced Rec. - $655 (Charge off Sprint ) drops May '24 shows on TU/EXP

The Bureau - $649 (Charge off Cap One) drops Sep '23 shows on TU/EQ /EXP

Wells Fargo Secured - $158 (closed) drops Oct '20 shows on EXP

Trojan Prof - $0 (paid off closed)

I recently applied for these most denied but it was a try anyways... planning on just gardening... but how long is the gardening process?

Avant - denied (did prequal first)

Milestone - denied (did prequal first)

Firestone - denied

Kohls - denied

VS - waiting for a response

Target RedCard - denied (called after getting the 7-10 day wait and then got denied )

Macys - waiting for a response

Please give any advice, suggestions, opinions... it is all welcomed!

Montana

DR527 · ‎06-27-2019

I would open a My Jeweler club account to bring your ult down quickly. And then stop applying for things. Hard Inquiries aren’t a big deal until you really want or really need to buy something. The more you apply for now the longer you wait to get mortgage. And you only need 1 installment account and 2 cards for a good Fico credit mix. You have a car loan and with MJC card 5 cards. Then snowball your money into the smallest CC. Your not drowning in it. $695 is manageable. Then send PFD letters to all collections.

Anonymous · ‎06-27-2019

Thank you soo much. Can anyone get approved for MJC? I'm going to stop applying after MJC tomorrow.

DR527 · ‎06-27-2019

Yes everyone is approved. It’s overpriced jewelry but if you go to their site and follow the steps. You will get a CL of $5000. Also I assumed that you were the AU. Not sure after re-reading. If you are the AU then you can have those accounts removed from the your reports. Your not financially obligated for them. Just call up the credit bureaus. But if they are yours and your EX is the AU. Then that’s a different story.

Anonymous · ‎06-27-2019

I am the AU on those accounts, is it better to remove it or keep it on there to show I have credit lines?

DR527 · ‎06-27-2019

That’s up to you. And your relationship with your ex. If it was me, I’d remove them. Take the hit up front of not having the Open lines of credit. Then recoup with the MJC $5000. Utilization is more important then dollar amount.

Jnbmom · ‎06-27-2019

Get yourself off those AU acvounts, that utilization is dreadful😯

Your balance on your current cards are low , try to get them paid down , let them all report 0 except one and let thst one report a few dollars. Then your utilization will look very good and you don't need a "junk" jewelry tradeline.

Start working on your baddies and see if you can't get any pay for deletes going.

EXP 780 EQ 791TU 795

DR527 · ‎06-27-2019

Also one last thing. I feel like I should give you a disclaimer. Each one of these thing come with a potential downside. 1)MJC is a upfront fee. Of around $130. So if you don’t have that then your going to need it. 2) Sending PFD letter to any open collection agency. Is like shaking a hornets nets. One or all can update on your credit reports. Which would be like them hitting it for the first time. Your scores will fall. 3) I don’t know anything about your CC that your a AU on. If they are very old accounts. Expect your age of credit to fall.

Anonymous · ‎06-28-2019

I'm new but I'd personally pay off all the balances on the open accounts and work on getting back in good standing with the auto loan, than I'd take care of the collections one by one (if they won't do pfd be prepared to quickly pay it off or they can ding your credit again), not sure if being an AU on those open accounts affects your score negatively but I'd weigh that against the upside of having longer AAOA which I think accounts for around 15% of your score and then if it is affecting negatively I'd remove myself from all or maybe all but the oldest one and then get on the owner of the account about paying the balance off.

Anonymous · ‎06-28-2019

@Anonymous wrote:

Open Accounts
Cap One Auto - $15,280/$23k (30/60/90 day Lates - opened Sept '14 ... repo and then got my car back paying on time in the last 11 months )
Cap One Journey CC - $46/$300 (recently opened Jun '19) 15.3% UTIL
Credit One Visa - $366/$400 (recently opened Mar '19) 91.5% UTIL
OpenSky - $255/$300 (opened Oct '17) 85% UTIL
Fingerhut - $28/$400 (Recently opened Jun '19) 7% UTIL

AU on these Accounts
Cap One QS1 - $1477/$1500 98%UTIL!
Best Buy Citi - $1400/$1500 93.3% UTIL!
Credit One Visa - $882/$900 98% UTIL!
Credit One MC - $458/$500 91.6% UTIL!

Collections
Port. Rec. - $968 (Charge off Cap One) drops in Apr '25 shows on TU/EQ/EXP
Enhanced Rec. - $655 (Charge off Sprint ) drops May '24 shows on TU/EXP
The Bureau - $649 (Charge off Cap One) drops Sep '23 shows on TU/EQ /EXP
Wells Fargo Secured - $158 (closed) drops Oct '20 shows on EXP
Trojan Prof - $0 (paid off closed)

Here's the first thing you need to do: GET REMOVED AS AU ON ALL OF THOSE ACCOUNTS! I've put the utilization percentages by all of your accounts & the AU accounts. AU UTIL figures into your overall UTIL, so it is hurting your scores big time. Anything over 88.9% is considered maxed out & will ding you maximum points.Call up each company & tell them you want to be removed from these accounts. Then watch your score go up. You have enough accounts on your own to get your scores growing. You DO NOT need the My Jeweler account!

Next, get your Credit1 & OpenSky accounts below 88.9% ASAP- the more the better.

Here's the big thing, and I know I sound like a broken record because I always tell everyone this, is you MUST have a written budget where you can track all of your spending, down to the penny! Right now as you are getting on track it's important that you start to build a solid foundation that starts with sound financial discipline. Put down your income & all your expenses, then divide & budget those expenses by how many times you get paid in a month. If you get paid weekly, then divide them by 4; bi-weekly divide by 2. List all of your credit cards & your collections, and make sure you are writing down EVERYTHING you spend money on, even if it's a drink at a convenience store. You want to see where your money is going & identify your spending habits. From there, you'll be able to trim unnecessary spending & create cash flow, which will help you pay off your debt. You also want to start saving part of your paycheck EVERYTIME you get paid.

Learn & understand that credit cards should not be used to buy things that you don't have the money for yet- that is how people get in debt. Use your credit cards as a convenient alternative to carrying cash with you, & pay them off every month, using the AZEO method. It will take some getting used to, but once you have your finances under control you will be amazed at how much more money you actually have!

Your budget should look something like this: