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Y’all are awesome

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Anonymous
Not applicable

Y’all are awesome

Hello all. Been lurking for a while and decided to sign up.

A little about me. When I turned 18 there must have been a glitch in the system or something because I ended up getting 5 credit cards approved for a total amount of $50k. Long story short I maxed them all out immediately and being a dumb kid I had no care about paying it back. Let them all go to collections and could have cared less. When I turned 21 I started working my butt off and contacted the collection agencies and made arrangements and paid them. After that I said I would only buy what I could afford with cash and if I didn’t have enough I didn’t need it.

Well then I grew up and realized how important credit is. I had built myself up to a 700+ and everything was great. I was in a car accident and was unable to work so credit got screwed up again.

I recently started from absolutely nothing on my credit. I got a cap1 credit card with a $300 limit. After I think 5 months they bumped me to $500. Everything was great and then bam I was in another accident again being not my fault. I was hurt pretty bad with a head injury as well as other injuries. I was setup for paperless billing on the cap1. Honestly I would just use it 3-4 times a month and immediately go to my bank app and do a bill pay.

When the accident happened, with my head injury I was expecting memory less. I honestly completely forgot about the card and payment. So next thing you know I get a call from them letting me know I’m 90 days late. Omg! I paid it right away and had my wife helping me so it wouldn’t happen again. In that time I never received an email or phone call from them. Not until I was 90 late. Next thing I check my credit report and I’m now at a 502. Geez here we go again.

So I start searching how I can get this fixed and I stumble across this forum and read many people emailing the ceo. I took your guys and gals advice and did that. Stated what happened. A little over 2 weeks went by without a call. I had my cousin add me as an authorized user on one of his cards to help my score. It bumped me up to 540. I was so discouraged.

Next thing I know I get a call from cap1. The nice gentleman on the phone says they received my email and after reviewing they approved it. He said it will be done on our end within 5 days and can take the cra’s up to 60 to correct.

I wake up this morning and sign into Experian. They were gone and my score is at 738. TransUnion and Equifax haven’t updated yet but I am very happy and very very appreciate for you folks. I would have never even thought about doing that if you guys didn’t post that.

Thank you all again.
Message 1 of 11
10 REPLIES 10
sarge12
Senior Contributor

Re: Y’all are awesome

OP...I was not the member that had the helpful advise you used, but I feel confidant that the member will be glad he could help. One suggestion, take advantage of the autopay feature for all credit cards at least for the minimum balance, and have overdraft protection for the checking account used to pay it. If you pay it manually, the autopay will not happen, and it is best mainly for when, due to health issues or other unexpected life events, you are unable to pay it. If you can't keep enough funds in the account to handle those payments, you really need to create a budget, and follow it till you can. I also recommend paying the payments before the auto-pay occour, because just relying on the autopay does not create the same sound credit behavior that logging onto the website and paying it does. It is also important to monitor the account for fraudulant activity anyway. Our credit habits are learned behaviors...good or bad...so it is important to establish good behaviors, and repeat them, until they become habitual. This forum is, in my opinion the best source of information available to help someone learn the ins and outs of credit, but do not just take anything at face value from us here, or anywhere. We are just members here and sometimes we can be wrong as well. Welcome to the community, and always know, with proper planning, and self dicipline anybody can have very high credit scores, but it does take time,and I mean years, and requires attention to do so. Very few will ever acheive 800+ scores by accident, so most who have these high scores, have self imposed rules they always follow.

TU fico08=812 07/16/23
EX fico08=809 07/16/23
EQ fico09=812 07/16/23
EX fico09=821 07/16/23
EQ fico bankcard08=832 07/16/23
TU Fico Bankcard 08=840 07/16/23
EQ NG1 fico=802 04/17/21
EQ Resilience index score=58 03/09/21
Unknown score from EX=784 used by Cap1 07/10/20
Message 2 of 11
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Y’all are awesome

^^^ all of that. Well said @sarge12.

OP, I’m glad you had a happy ending to a rough run of luck. CapOne isn’t known for being forgiving of transgressions, but in light of that, your situation definitely warranted it.

I would follow sarge’s advice here if I were you. As you grow your profile, diligence will be needed. Build a spreadsheet to track balances, limits, due dates, CLIs, and the like. Make it as simple or as elaborate as you like, but get in the habit of checking it at least every couple days and verifying/updating it against the balances and info in each credit account. Eventually you won’t need to do it as often but at first it’s vital to instill the best practices you’ll need to maintain healthy usage and proper management. And spend time here - read, ask questions, research. The information and experience here is unbelievable. Pay attention and carefully follow the techniques here for credit management, and there’s almost no way you can go wrong.

Congrats on your success at repairing your account and best wishes going forward.

Message 3 of 11
AverageJoesCredit
Legendary Contributor

Re: Y’all are awesome

Keep it up Smiley Happy
Message 4 of 11
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Y’all are awesome

Thank you all very much. Autopay has been setup now. I always tend to keep cash in the bank. I’m not active on many forums at all but this is definitely one I will be active on. It the short amount of time I have leaned quite a bit and look forward to learning a lot more.

Thank you all very much.

Also Equifax updated today. 728 there. Now just waiting for TransUnion to update so I can no longer see that awful 576 Smiley Sad
Message 5 of 11
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Y’all are awesome

Excellent! Seems from what people have been saying here lately, TU has been slow to update compared to the others (I’ve seen it also). Within the next few days though you should see TU rebound.
Message 6 of 11
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Y’all are awesome

Yeah patiently waiting now.

Question for you guys. So once TU updates I should have roughly a 730 across the board. No late payments. No collections. 4 inquires with Experian and TransUnion and 1 on Equifax. 3 on tu and eq will fall off by October of this year.

I have only the cap1 card with a $500 limit that I have a $0 balance on (just made the $10 payment I owed) and I have the card I’m an AU which is a chase sapphire with a $9500 limit. $87 owed on that.

I want to do this right this time. Should I apply for any credit cards right now? If so which would you guys recommend?

Also should I ask cap1 for a cli?


Chase was opened 5/2014
Cap 1 10/2017

I make roughly $200k a year
Message 7 of 11
Medic981
Valued Contributor

Re: Y’all are awesome


@Anonymous wrote:
Yeah patiently waiting now.

Question for you guys. So once TU updates I should have roughly a 730 across the board. No late payments. No collections. 4 inquires with Experian and TransUnion and 1 on Equifax. 3 on tu and eq will fall off by October of this year.

I have only the cap1 card with a $500 limit that I have a $0 balance on (just made the $10 payment I owed) and I have the card I’m an AU which is a chase sapphire with a $9500 limit. $87 owed on that.

I want to do this right this time. Should I apply for any credit cards right now? If so which would you guys recommend?

Also should I ask cap1 for a cli?


Chase was opened 5/2014
Cap 1 10/2017

I make roughly $200k a year

Welcome to the myFICO forums!

 

Ultimately, what a person needs to improve their FICO scores and build credit are three open credit cards (secured or unsecured) in good standing and one open installment loan in good standing such as a car, home, student, personal, share secured, or credit building loan. This combination is what the myFICO score theorists here have determined is what you need for optimal credit building and FICO score. You can have more CCs and more installment loans, however, this will not increase your FICO scores.

Next, (this is only important if you are attempting to purchase a large ticket item like a home or car) is paying in full all of the credit card balances each month, before the posting date, except one. This is called the All Zero Except One (AZEO) method. The one credit card you allow to post a balance needs to be less than 8.9% of the credit limit of the card. So using one card each month to buy lunch, letting it report and then paying in full will maximize FICO scoring. Keeping your utilization of your cards below 28.9% both individually and collectively will prevent you from incurring a FICO scoring penalty.

An installment loan will have its greatest impact on your FICO score when the amount owed is at 8.9% or less of the original amount owed which is usually in the final months before the loan is paid in full. If you don't have an installment loan you can check into Self Lender or a Share Secured Loan at a Credit Union.

Keep in mind, building credit is a marathon, not a sprint. It involves demonstrating to a potential creditor that you can handle credit responsibly. If you have open, active credit accounts that are being paid on time and pay all of your bills on time every time, apply for credit only when you actually need it and use credit cards sparingly maintaining low credit utilization, then you’re going to earn and maintain great credit scores. It would be impossible for you not to do so. This is the fastest way you can build good, solid credit.

 

An emergency fund is a savings account with money set aside to cover large, unexpected expenses such as an emergency room visit; home-appliance repair or replacement; major car repairs; and the most costly of all, unemployment.

How much should you put aside? The rule of thumb is to have enough cash to cover three to six months of living expenses. If you lose your job you can use this money to pay for necessities while looking for a new one or the cash could supplement your unemployment benefits.

To figure out how much you should have in your emergency fund, add up your monthly bills: rent or mortgage payment; utility payments such as gas, electric, water, garbage; phone, cable and internet; insurance payments such as car, health and home; transportation costs such as car payment, gas, public transit; debt payments such as minimum credit card and all loans except for mortgage; grocery expenses; and other recurring monthly expenses.

Having even $500 saved can get you out of many financial scrapes. Put something away now, and build your fund over time.

How to build up an emergency fund -
- Start a budget and set a monthly savings goal - set up direct deposit to an emergency savings account.
- If there is money left at the end of a pay period, move some into your emergency savings account.
- If there is no money left, cut your expenses. Don't eat out, save leftovers, bring lunch to work, bring coffee from home, spend evenings at home and carpool.
- Get a second job or sell unused belongings to build your emergency savings account.
- Continue to assess your financial situation and adjust accordingly.

Nearly 80 percent of American workers say they’re living paycheck to paycheck, according to a recent survey. Remember that credit is a tool and relying on credit cards for funding emergencies is no different than relying on a gun for when you need cash. Both can be dangerous if not used wisely.







Your FICO credit scores are not just numbers, it’s a skill.
Message 8 of 11
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Y’all are awesome

@imthedevil

Sorry I’m in mobile and can’t figure out how to reply to you.

You were right though. Just signed into TU. Said update available and now it’s all cleared up. Sitting at a 766!
Message 9 of 11
FireMedic1
Community Leader
Mega Contributor

Re: Y’all are awesome

Nice job! Congrats!


Message 10 of 11
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