cancel
Showing results for 
Search instead for 
Did you mean: 

Rebuilding my life

tag
Rspressburg
New Member

Rebuilding my life

This is my first post here, so bare with me. I want to give a little hope to others. I have had credit problems since I was 18, which is totally my fault (33 now). I'm still paying for bad decisions made in the past. In or about 2020, I decided to start working hard on my financial self. It was extremely hard to be given a chance. In early 2020, I ended up applying for the Discover IT Secured with a $200 deposit. Never late and always tried to keep the limit low. Several months later, I applied for a Capitol One Platinum and was approved for $1K unsecured and Credit One (I know crap) for $800 unsecured. I crapped my pants! lol. Anyway, again, paid on time and tried to keep a low balance on all. After about 6 months, I got a $300 CLI from Capitol One and almost at the same time, my Discover graduated to unsecured, they refunded my deposit and gave me CLI to $1k! Credit One hasn't done anything, which is no real surprise to me. I also upgraded my Cap 1 Platinum to QS. Same CL and still no AF, but now I get 1.5%! Recently, I received a preselect letter from Citi. I almost fell out of my chair! I never received anything from a reputable (big) bank. Of course I receive a billion junk mailers for crap cards but never premium. I followed the directions and applied, and without further explanation, I received the "unable to approve you at this time" message. It said they would be mailing an explanation (AAL). Well it's been about a month and I never received anything but more pre select letters from Citi, which pissed me off lol. Tonight, I worked up my courage and tried again. To my surprise, I was instantly approved for $500 on the Citi Double Cash card. I am on cloud 9 right now! Yes, it's small but everything I read says Citi is very strict and multiple sources recommend 700+ before applying. I am currently sitting at Fico 673 Exp, and 645-650ish for Trans and Equi. When I started this, I was in low-mid 500s, so to be approved, really blows my mind. My goal is to close Credit One once my Citi reaches or exceeds $800, to drop the crap card with the AF. My goal is to get all three cards to 10k each. My dream card would be a Chase CC but I know that won't come for some time. To put the cherry on top, I recently was approved to refi my car loan, which dropped the APR from 12.99% to 6.5%. When I went to the dealer to cancel my extended service and GAP with them, they said it would take 6-10 weeks before the bank would be refunded. I ended up getting into a brand new car, top of the line, which is one package higher than what we had and they got me a deal at 6.9%, with no money down. I'm still in shock being we purchased the first car in 2021. 2021 and so far in 2022, have been good to me financially. I hope my hard work continues to pay off. I WILL get to 800! One day I will be able to be treated with the respect I deserve, as opposed to being frowned upon because of my scores and being taken advantage of with predatory rates. I wish everyone all the best of luck on their respective journey. Keep your head up!

Message 1 of 19
18 REPLIES 18
FireMedic1
Community Leader
Mega Contributor

Re: Rebuilding my life

Nice work. Creditors judge the score and file. Not the person. Just like a Drivers License. Its a privilige and not a right to get credit. Dont take it personal. Welcome.


Message 2 of 19
Rspressburg
New Member

Re: Rebuilding my life

Thank you. I really appreciate the welcome. Yeah, I do understand that business is business and it's not personal, it's just a crappy feeling. Now I am feeling better about my financial self and look forward to growing. 

Message 3 of 19
MasonK
Frequent Contributor

Re: Rebuilding my life

Good work and congrats! Hard work and time pays off. I started my rebuild off with an OpenSky because that was all I could get and had to pay cash for cars because I couldn't get financing. I know that struggle and I know how great it feels to get the approvals as you work on getting your goal cards.

1/1/16 FICO8 Scores: EX: 407, EQ: 403, TU: 455
1/1/23 FICO8 Scores: EX: 832, EQ: 820, TU: 834
FICO9 EX: 818
Total Revolving Limits: $131,800

Message 4 of 19
moto4man
Regular Contributor

Re: Rebuilding my life

Good job!  I too recently went through a score overhaul.  And I'm anxiously awaiting for the dust to settle, and drop one more app for a much more reputable institution.  I'm currently on a couple of cap1 cards, that have been good to me in my rebuild process, but there are much better out there.  But jumping in the garden for a year or so after the last app will do me the greatest Justice.  For me... time is the final element in getting to the next level.

Keep up the great work, it really is a sizable moral booster.

Starting Score: 547EX
Current Score: 682EX 687EQ 687TU
Goal Score: 750


Take the myFICO Fitness Challenge
Message 5 of 19
Rspressburg
New Member

Re: Rebuilding my life

Thank you! It does feel awesome to start seeing results. I took a glance at your scores and almost fainted! Lol. You absolutely killed it! Any advice? 

Message 6 of 19
Rspressburg
New Member

Re: Rebuilding my life

Thank you! I agree, my moral has increased pretty significantly. I'm also thinking of gardening for roughly a year as well, to see what happens. I will have the three cards, after I cancel the Credit One, so I think I will be good for now and just focus on those. 

Message 7 of 19
Rspressburg
New Member

Re: Rebuilding my life

I forgot to ask earlier, do you have any advice on what I should do next? Should I garden, like I am seriously considering and work with what I currently have? I'm new to this game, which is sad to say at my age. I just don't want to make any massive mistakes. 

Message 8 of 19
MasonK
Frequent Contributor

Re: Rebuilding my life


@Rspressburg wrote:

Thank you! It does feel awesome to start seeing results. I took a glance at your scores and almost fainted! Lol. You absolutely killed it! Any advice? 


For me it was:

Understanding the choices that lead me to 2 foreclosures, 2 judgments, a pile of collections and about 165 late payments. Knowing how I failed at personal finance was the biggest key to correcting it.

Figuring out how to live within my means (the 50/30/20 rule is an eye-opener if you can master it, and I never finance more than I can pay in cash right now) <- that doesn't include a house. LOL. I'm not THAT rich!

Make a road map to success where I always pay every bill and get the right credit products at the right time.

Persistence, patience, and celebrate the successes.

1/1/16 FICO8 Scores: EX: 407, EQ: 403, TU: 455
1/1/23 FICO8 Scores: EX: 832, EQ: 820, TU: 834
FICO9 EX: 818
Total Revolving Limits: $131,800

Message 9 of 19
Rspressburg
New Member

Re: Rebuilding my life

Great advice. Truly. I've heard of this rule somewhere before but I will certainly research, and study. It's very inspiring to see such great progress and in a way, it helps me build my self confidence. Thank you. 

Message 10 of 19
Advertiser Disclosure: The offers that appear on this site are from third party advertisers from whom FICO receives compensation.