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December 2019 Check In Thread

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Kenny
Moderator Emeritus

December 2019 Check In Thread

 

As we approach the holidays, the stress of overspending can be tremendous.  What steps are you taking so that you ring in the New Year not drowning in debt? What new ideas or plans do you have so that 0% promos don't sway you away from your goals?  If you have a plan or strategy that you would like to share, please do! 

 

I know you are all hard at work with your credit goals.  Have you progressed as far as you hoped?  Were there any unforseen expenses that cropped up and may have thrown you off schedule?

 

As a reminder, participation in these monthly check-ins is optional, but encouraged. The goal is to help keep you on track, so feel free to post your progress updates here. This is a no-judge zone; feel free to say what's keeping you up at night or give yourself a kudo for having it all together.

 

Did you hit any potholes or speedbumps? Achieve some milestones, either small or mighty? Change your goals or add new ones?

 

Let us know how you're doing!

What have been your biggest accomplishments

and obstacles so far in the myFICO Fitness Challenge this year?

Message 1 of 36
35 REPLIES 35
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: December 2019 Check In Thread

Great final for the year! Thanks Kenny for keeping us on our toes! After the reality of an old account falling off my bureaus and an actual purchase showing up I see the effects to my credit profile.

Many of you already know this but, closing old accounts may impact your scores and more likely than not, the thicker files find minimum after shocks. Further, the outstanding balance was likely the bigger hit. This leads to a choice, do you worry about 850 Fico 08 Scores or what ever scores? Or, live your real credit life? In my case it was more about seeing what would happen than really affecting my financial life?! Smiley Indifferent

Message 2 of 36
Jannelo
Frequent Contributor

Re: December 2019 Check In Thread

Well, towards the end of November's check-in I posted I had finally paid off my last charge-off.   Experian moved up 6 points to 653, bringing me to my short-term goal of crossing 650.  I posted that I would be happy when all three hit or crossed 650.  I knew TransUnion probably had not reported it yet, because they always lag way behind.  I waited a couple of weeks and went ahead and pulled all three scores.  I was right.  TU is still showing the last balance of $736 since my previous payment.  So my TU score had only moved up one point for November to 631. 

 

BUT....Equifax was reporting the settlement and the zero balance, and my score went up a whopping 26 points, from 627 to 653.  So I am now at 653 on Equifax also.

 

I am very happy.   What a nice jump in score for Equifax, and it brought me equal to my Experian score, which has almost always been my highest score.     So December started out with a bang.  Now, I'm just waiting on my TU score, which, who knows, could take a couple more weeks to report the settlement.

Open Credit Cards:
Green Dot Primor Secured (5/18) - $450 CL (CLOSED 2/2020)
Capital One Platinum (8/18) PC to Quicksilver (9/19) - $3800 CL
Capital One QuicksilverOne (3/19) - $4800 CL
Merrick Bank DYL VISA - No AF (6/19) - $1400 CL
Discover it Cash Back (9/19) - $2800 CL
Amazon Prime Store Card (4/20) - $10,000 CL
NFCU cashRewards (4/20) - $4500 CL
BB&T Spectrum Cash Rewards (5/20) - $3500 CL
Navy Federal More Rewards American Express® Card (3/21) - $9700 SL - at 9.65 %.
Experian FICO Score - 8/2018: 528

Experian FICO 8 Score - 9/2022 - 720
Equifax FICO 8 score 2/2022- 692
TransUnion FICO 8 score 10/2022 - 728
Experian FICO Mortgage Score - 725
Message 3 of 36
Lucifer
Frequent Contributor

Re: December 2019 Check In Thread

Ahhhhh Decembahhhhhh  - Hello winter - we here in the wonderful northeast received some of that white stuff as a present this morning.

 

So much going on !

So for the holidays and trying to prevent the..... sing with me now -  Fiiiiiivvveeeeee monthssssssssss of billsssssss!

 

I am half done with my shopping already - done and paid for.   I'm keeping to a budget and already have the moolah put aside so I am good there.    Early planning is helpful.

 

Dinorooski:  I don't worry too much about the scores now provided my credit is solid and my mortgage scores are all nice and high.   I'm now over 800 on my F8's.    Now this time last year I was in the 720's so my answer would have been different a year ago.  At this point 805/825/835 isn't going to change anything for me other than my own  - wow look at that - fun.  

 

Jannatanna: Nice improvements - you are getting there.   I was once where you are and if I can make it to exceptional - I know you can too !

 

My first Fico score comes out in about 3 or 4 days but no big rush to see - I think it will be up a bit but one never knows for sure.  It's all good in the hood though because well - made my 800's.  Time to find out my mortage scores!!!

 

I was hoping my life would really come into focus in 2020 (haha see what I did there???) and so far so good.

 

Happy December, Challengers !!!!!  Let's hear some updates !

 

Are you planning your 2020?   Let's hear about those plans too.

Stay Liquid My Friends...


Starting Score: F8 3xx
Current Score: F8 800+
Goal Score: F8 800


Take the myFICO Fitness Challenge



Message 4 of 36
Trudy
Valued Contributor

Re: December 2019 Check In Thread

Glad you showed up Kenny.  I was going to put out an APB but remembered it was the holiday weekend.  Just found this forum and was looking forward to December 1.  Not that I have much to report.  Yet I feel like I may be able to relax a bit and not score watch....for what?  I'm grateful I've come this far and had to be reminded yet again, "what is the point of good credit if you don't use it."  Dryer started acting crazy this weekend along with my oven having issues.  So, I think for the 1st time in years I'm not going to worry about number of accounts reporting or utilization.  Along this journey to better scores I've learned what it takes to get there.  So no worries about spending what I can't afford.

 

Whew! Now.... that was a pep talk for me, will see if I can make myself actually take that leap or cringe and run back to my safety zone before doing so and end up resorting to going without using the oven and going to the laundromat until I pay down the recent needed purchase that took me into a UTL% that freaks me out!!! Smiley HappySmiley SadSmiley Wink

 

Pray for me!

 

I hope for those needing it that the credit bureaus are kind to you all and give you the present of removing derog(s) unexpectedly, giving you CLI that more than cover any new holiday expense and drive those scores to where you want them. 

FICO - 8: 05/05/23
Message 5 of 36
VanderSnoot
Established Contributor

Re: December 2019 Check In Thread

Watching delinquencies fall off. In case this is interesting/helpful to anyone else:

 

- EQ is deleting 3 months early but they are not deleting strings. E.g. this month EQ removed a 30 day delinq from Mar 2013 but not the 60 day delinq on the same account for the following month. If this pattern holds, my EQ will be clean in June.

- EX is deleting 2 months early but they seem relatively liberal with how they delete. They appear to delete strings and successive non-string lates (i.e. two 30 day delinqs on the same account in successive months). Plus, when deleting strings or successive lates, they delete delinqs on other accounts for those same months. If this holds, my EX could be clean next month, which is too extraordinary to believe.

- TU is deleting 2 months early. I don't know how they treat strings, but they're not deleting successive delinqs on the same account. It could take as long as July before my TU is clean.

Message 6 of 36
NuMeNuDay
Established Member

Re: December 2019 Check In Thread

I started the myFICO 2019 Challenge, but have not kept up with updating (here's my last update in April 2019), however I have kept up with putting in the work to have a successful closing in Dec. 2010. I have been very lax in my group participation and I look forward to changing that in 2020. 

 

Today in a business group I am in, I saw this question (see photo), I thought about it in relation to my business and that I did not get it kicked off as I intended to, and was all set to mark disappointing, but then I looked at my overall year and while I did not fulfill and launch my business (one of my goals), I SMASHED several more goals that will in turn allow me to launch and run my business in Jan 2020.
 

Goals for 2019:

  1. Pay off all credit card debt (Total = $65,005.93) (Approx. $10k left to go)
  2. Pay Off my auto loan (Approx. $16,900) (Approx. $12k left)
  3. Save $10,000 to my House Fund (Focused 100% on debts, but saved $2000 for emergency fund)
  4. Pay off student loans (Approx. $65,000) (Put on hold), still in school)
  5. Boost credit score to 750+ (Clsoe but not there yet)
  6. Build my business (Jan 2020 Launch)
  7. Train and learn different skills to start a service based business (in addition to the e-commerce shop) (Started, but learning is forever Smiley Happy)
In February 2019, I was blessed with a new job that required me to move overseas (I work for the US Govt). This job pays all expenses and provides me a daily per diem and hardship pay in addition to my base salary. This has allowed me to pay off all CCs in 10 months (I have one left that will be paid end of Dec). Next up, I will be paying off my car (two years early) and another installment loan (3 years early) in another 3-4 months (~ $35k). My goal was to be debt-free (not including student loans yet) by December 2019, and while I did not reach that goal, I knocked out about 60%of my total debt (100% credit card debt) in 10 months and the other 40% will be completed in April 2020.

My year was spent also putting my business structure in place and making sure to have all the tools and teams set-up. I have my accountant set-up and all my finance processes in place, I will be tracking my expenses (and future sales) to ensure my quarterly taxes are done properly and on time. I also added a website management company to my team! I want my site to be secure and I could not trust myself to do it right starting out. In addition to security and monitoring my site daily, they also provide unlimited edits to help me update products, design details, setting up plug-ins for genius ideas I come up with (LOL), etc. They do it all (some custom work was required, but it was so reasonable! Finally it included obtaining business CCs to stop using my personal ones. 

Based on my paying off almost all of my credit card debts, I was able to obtain the business credit I needed to transition all my business expenses I was paying for on my personal accounts to business cards/ bank accounts to be 100% separate before 2020! See my post about it here! 

I have been taking courses to obtain certifications in Adobe products, SEO and social media mgmt, and overall business courses. As I work overseas, I am taking advantage of my downtime and training hard to be marketable and more knowledgeable in my field, graphic communication. This will allow me to open my services to freelance graphic and web design, social media management, marketing and branding. I look forward to putting my services out there.

All in all, this has been a productive and successful year, even though I did not launch my business and I am not making a profit yet. I will be finishing my website in the next few weeks. My shop will sell t-shirts and other apparel, home goods and accessories.

So when asked, I made sure to mark my year SUCCESSFUL, even though everything is not 100% completed!
 
 
78741340_10157057406233195_8250142587998961664_o.jpg

 

Starting Score: EQ644; TU633; EX632
Current Score: EQ704; TU714; EX707
Goal Score: 750+


Take the myFICO Fitness Challenge 2019
Message 7 of 36
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: December 2019 Check In Thread


@NuMeNuDay wrote:

I started the myFICO 2019 Challenge, but have not kept up with updating (here's my last update in April 2019), however I have kept up with putting in the work to have a successful closing in Dec. 2010. I have been very lax in my group participation and I look forward to changing that in 2020. 

 

Today in a business group I am in, I saw this question (see photo), I thought about it in relation to my business and that I did not get it kicked off as I intended to, and was all set to mark disappointing, but then I looked at my overall year and while I did not fulfill and launch my business (one of my goals), I SMASHED several more goals that will in turn allow me to launch and run my business in Jan 2020.
 

Goals for 2019:

  1. Pay off all credit card debt (Total = $65,005.93) (Approx. $10k left to go)
  2. Pay Off my auto loan (Approx. $16,900) (Approx. $12k left)
  3. Save $10,000 to my House Fund (Focused 100% on debts, but saved $2000 for emergency fund)
  4. Pay off student loans (Approx. $65,000) (Put on hold), still in school)
  5. Boost credit score to 750+ (Clsoe but not there yet)
  6. Build my business (Jan 2020 Launch)
  7. Train and learn different skills to start a service based business (in addition to the e-commerce shop) (Started, but learning is forever Smiley Happy)
In February 2019, I was blessed with a new job that required me to move overseas (I work for the US Govt). This job pays all expenses and provides me a daily per diem and hardship pay in addition to my base salary. This has allowed me to pay off all CCs in 10 months (I have one left that will be paid end of Dec). Next up, I will be paying off my car (two years early) and another installment loan (3 years early) in another 3-4 months (~ $35k). My goal was to be debt-free (not including student loans yet) by December 2019, and while I did not reach that goal, I knocked out about 60%of my total debt (100% credit card debt) in 10 months and the other 40% will be completed in April 2020.

My year was spent also putting my business structure in place and making sure to have all the tools and teams set-up. I have my accountant set-up and all my finance processes in place, I will be tracking my expenses (and future sales) to ensure my quarterly taxes are done properly and on time. I also added a website management company to my team! I want my site to be secure and I could not trust myself to do it right starting out. In addition to security and monitoring my site daily, they also provide unlimited edits to help me update products, design details, setting up plug-ins for genius ideas I come up with (LOL), etc. They do it all (some custom work was required, but it was so reasonable! Finally it included obtaining business CCs to stop using my personal ones. 

Based on my paying off almost all of my credit card debts, I was able to obtain the business credit I needed to transition all my business expenses I was paying for on my personal accounts to business cards/ bank accounts to be 100% separate before 2020! See my post about it here! 

I have been taking courses to obtain certifications in Adobe products, SEO and social media mgmt, and overall business courses. As I work overseas, I am taking advantage of my downtime and training hard to be marketable and more knowledgeable in my field, graphic communication. This will allow me to open my services to freelance graphic and web design, social media management, marketing and branding. I look forward to putting my services out there.

All in all, this has been a productive and successful year, even though I did not launch my business and I am not making a profit yet. I will be finishing my website in the next few weeks. My shop will sell t-shirts and other apparel, home goods and accessories.

So when asked, I made sure to mark my year SUCCESSFUL, even though everything is not 100% completed!
 
 
78741340_10157057406233195_8250142587998961664_o.jpg

 


You have accomplished a huge life change! You can be proud of yourself and all the focus you put into retiring debt and positioning your new business! Hats off to you! Very IMPRESSIVE! Smiley LOL

Message 8 of 36
NuMeNuDay
Established Member

Re: December 2019 Check In Thread

@Dinosaur: Thank you so much! I knew I wanted to make sure my personal finances are in place before starting a new business, because my goal is to eventually leave my FT job! I am doing e-commerce since I am overseas for the next year, maybe two! 

 

I cannot wait to be done in April/May with everything but the student loans and they will be worked on last since deferred currently. 

 

I look forward to the myFICO 2020 Challenge! 

Starting Score: EQ644; TU633; EX632
Current Score: EQ704; TU714; EX707
Goal Score: 750+


Take the myFICO Fitness Challenge 2019
Message 9 of 36
Lucifer
Frequent Contributor

Re: December 2019 Check In Thread

Well December  - you are bringing to close 2019 in a few more weeks...   This year has not sucked !

 

Early Fico8 rolling in with a small increase up to 805.

 

I owe 1000 bucks on a 0 interest card that will be paid off this month leaving me without any credit card balances.   I own my vehicles.   I have no loans at all.   Ahhhhhhh.

 

I've worked my butt off to get this far.    Next year's big goal will be to be ready for a mortgage and move on to a new phase in life and business as the owner of investment property.    

 

 

Stay Liquid My Friends...


Starting Score: F8 3xx
Current Score: F8 800+
Goal Score: F8 800


Take the myFICO Fitness Challenge



Message 10 of 36
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