one of my best friends knows how I love the credit game very much, and over the past 1 1/2 years has helped me on and off to deal with her credit. She's 27, has cards but doesnt care about getting new ones, what her score is etc.
She never wants to know what her score is kind of mentality cause she feels like she is always over extending herself. Which she is definitely.
So I pulled her TU and EQ reports from my fico, her scores about 1 year ago were 600 and today are in the 640's and 650's.
She has a Chase Freedom that open since 2007 had a 3000k limit and they balance chased her to 600 limit. That card is reporting maxed out.
Chase SW Visa 2k limit, balance 1950. maxed out
Cap1 QS1- 6k limit, balance reported 6,031. MAXED out. She is an auto user on a US Bank card from 1997 with a 30k and Chase Visa from 1995 with a 25k, both reporting SMALL balances. Her AAOA is 7 years, total history 18 years. 2 negatives from 30 dates that are almost 7 years old.
This is EQ, I was floored when I saw simulation! Im like girl, you need to stop charging these cards and focus on pay off. Even if I change it to 6 months, her simulation is 710. Kind of interesting that her maxed out cards are not affecting her score even more but I guess its the long history. Just wanted to share some info. Im really really realy trying to make her understand she needs to stick to a budget and stop maxing out her cards. Cause if she did she would have Excellent credit!
Until she takes notice and wants to improve score, FICO is just a pretend number that isn't going to motivate.
The simulator says pay down $13k. The numbers you provided only add up to $9k tops. Which other cards are showing the $4k additional balances?
Perhaps the more relevant number is to go over her last 3 months CC statements with her, and add up all the interest that she's paying. It should be over $200 per month, $2,400 per year. That's going to be the true hard cost, the most likely attention-getter.
Also, if the 30-day lates are at 7 years, aren't they due to fall off soon? That alone should move her score up nearer 700, almost without regard to utilization. So if you want her to think paying down the cards made the difference, better get her paying faster 
Thanks for sharing, and good luck with helping your friend save some interest cost.
@ddemari wrote:. She makes good money, spends on way too much stuff and doesnt really want to stop is her problem. but she always talks about how she wants good credit, I guess I should tell her listen when u want good credit, get reaady to want and actually follow through on how to get there lol.
^This.
All you can do is outline the possibilities. Some people are fine with this, they don't worry about the interest cost, and that's not the end of the world. It's just a different way to approach spending money.
There is no amount of convincing. I have friends that want help, but do not want to change. Some have spending problems, some have poverty mentality. And some just drink too much. 
The change will come when they can't get the credit, and hit the bottom. Being late or stop paying is not dealing with the problem, but is how exacerbation starts.
Good luck, but my future attempts are for folks that really want to change, and help them mature with patience is key.
The change will come when they can't get the credit, and hit the bottom. Being late or stop paying is not dealing with the problem, but is how exacerbation starts.
Good luck, but my future attempts are for folks that really want to change, and help them mature with patience is key.
@Imperfectfuture wrote:
There is no amount of convincing. I have friends that want help, but do not want to change. Some have spending problems, some have poverty mentality. And some just drink too much.
The change will come when they can't get the credit, and hit the bottom. Being late or stop paying is not dealing with the problem, but is how exacerbation starts.
Good luck, but my future attempts are for folks that really want to change, and help them mature with patience is key.
So very true. When she is actually ready to make the change in how she spends and treats credit, is when I will invest more time in helping her.
