back to the OP.
If you ahve no credit now and are trying to build it. Get a secured credit card. Before you decide which one, make sure it will be swapped to a regular one after a certian period, which is either 12 or 18 months.
back to the OP.
If you ahve no credit now and are trying to build it. Get a secured credit card. Before you decide which one, make sure it will be swapped to a regular one after a certian period, which is either 12 or 18 months.
Couple things I did when I screwed mine up and got in a bunch of debt.
1. Personal loan and consolidated all my debt into 1 payment that was less than just the combined minimum payments.
2. keep all the accounts open and use a different one every month for gas and emergencies ONLY. And no, a night on the town is not an emergency. Also make sure you pay it compeltely off every month.
3. Live with basics only. Yes it sucks, but I found the easiest way to do it was to find something you enjoy doing for long periods of time and doing those things. I got a library card and read every book in the place that was even minorly entertaining. I also made an exception and kept my cable internet and played online games.
4. No fast food. You can feed yourself 3 solid meals a day for 7 days on what you would spend on 5 days of lunch only.
1, and 2 will help you to put your credit back together and keep more cash in your pocket.
3 and 4 are just to keep moe cash in your pocket which will also allow you to pay the debt down quicker which, in turn, will get your credit back together quicker.
1. i only have a car payment which is why i got rid of my CC to reduce my billsOriginally Posted by BanginJimmy
2. i am definitely considering this. as soon as an american express card makes it in my mailbox, i'm signing up.
3. i've lived with basics, except this month...i spent like a mofo on parts needed and wanted
4. i've been trying..but..it hasnt worked out too well..i'm always on the run during lunch time. yesterday was the first time i've eatin home in two weeks for lunch![]()
all i have now is rent/insurance/car payment/phone payment
it sounds like you are doing all the right things then, it's just a matter of time now to convince creditors you are trustworthy.
I was in the same situation as you are for lunch. I had to make special care to make sure I had fod in my car. When I made dinner I always made enough to use for lunch the following day. If I didnt know if I was going to have time for lunch the folloing day I took a couple PJ&J's to last me until I got home.
I know exactly how you feel. My time doing that was MUCH shorter than it would have been because I got an all expenses paid trip to Afghanistan about 4 months into it. I would have LOVED pot pies and pb&j over the shi t they called food over there.
well if you cant get a decent intrest rate you can look into a secured one.
Theres a lot of great suggestions that have been posted. If you **** up and get bad credit as a result of being irresponsible there are companies out there that will help get negative marks erased from your credit report.
I paid $79/month for Lexington Law Firm to improve my credit. Within 4 months my credit score went from a 540 to 680. Ofcourse, what they did can easily be done by yourself thus saving you the $79/monthly fee. I'm just too lazy for that ****.
I mean... (while not reading all the other posts) just set urself up with a bugdeted style payment system (not BUGDET) for ur goods. Like me... live within ur means. I mean I dont kno what u do or all that, but me being a poor Ohioian, it comes naturallyUse that card for the purchases ud rather not, or cannot, pay cash for. i.e. car insurance.
And... as Jimmy said above, u can just take out a loan, dont use that bish, just have that money, through it in a savings (so u can build at least a lil interest, credit union baby!!) then just pay that loan back with the money u've taken from that loan company. Thats what I'ma do, I'm pissed that one of my friends can get a new Civic for 239 a month cuz her old ass grandpa has like a 900 or somethin on credit and me, I have to deal with $400 a month!
But just live within ur means, is basically all I'm sayin. This may be another WTF are u talkin bout posts, but thats meI do that ish quite often.
Originally Posted by One_Bad_SHO
yep, laziness is a killer sometimes.
i think that may have been what kevykev was gona talk to me about, getting with some company to 'delete' the negative on my credit history and improve my score..i'm not in the 5's but i'm not in the 7's either..i wanna get mine up so i can get a home when i'm readyOriginally Posted by One_Bad_SHO
i was also wondering..what about furniture stores that offer the 12months interest free/no payments for so and so months?? couldnt i use them to boost my credit also?
I dont see why not, it is still a line of credit. Furnature is expensive as hell though.
Definately. It's still a line of credit. BUT!!!! Be absolutely sure you can pay it off COMPLETELY in the interest free period. Once that time period is up, they will add on all of the interest that accured while you weren't paying interest. Say you finance for 12 months, no interest. If you don't pay it off before the day your offer expires, they will tack on 12 months of interest. $100's easily.Originally Posted by phatboislim
I used this strategy to build my credit when I was much younger. I bought a couch... not a full set or stuff I couldn't afford but just a couch... paid it off in the 6 months allowed and my score went up and I built good history. Never paid a penny in interest.
So, if you go this way.... say you get 12 months no interest, take the total and divide it by ten and make absolutely sure you can afford that as a monthly payment. Padding it by two months gives you room to move just in case money is unexpectedly short once or twice.
2005 Mazdaspeed MX-5 -1.8L Turbo
SO...I'M GOING IN TO SIGN PAPERS FOR THE FURNITURE...6 MONTHS INTEREST FREE..LEATHER SET FOR $900 AND I SEE WHERE I'M GETTING MY TABLES FROM FOR $349...I'M PAYING FOR THE TABLES STRAIGHT UP. BUT I DONT KNOW WHAT OTHER STEPS TO TAKE AS FAR AS BUILDING CREDIT..I'M TEMPTED TO GET A LCD OR SOMETHING, BUT I DONT FEEL LIKE HAVE $2K WORTH OF DEBT IN A NICE TV, ESP SINCE I DONT HAVE A HOUSE...HOUSE>APARTMENT
Pay off the furniture first and see how much that helps. Six months will go by so fast. Also, you don't want to open up too many accounts at once. It makes it look like you're trying to spend too much money at once or you're just on a spree.
2005 Mazdaspeed MX-5 -1.8L Turbo
yea thats what i was planning on doing. the wife is gona help with the payments (suprised, but at the same time not, cuz she's always been like that to help) so i'm going to go ahead and do my $150 along with whatever she's gona bring to the table, and i guess itll get paid off sooner than 6months.Originally Posted by JennB
i'm still thinking about doing the credit card..is it safe to apply for a card online?
keep low balances, try not to have more than 2 cards open at once, no more than 2 loans, dont close one credit card to open another, you want to maintain a long credit history with companies, it will raise your score, have a mortgage loan will actually raise you score just for having it, i never knew that, try to avoid doing things that get you hard credit inquires on your credit. main thing you want to avoid though is the inquires on your credit and the balance availability. if my 2 credit cards were not maxed i would be sitting at about 740, but because they were maxed when they did their monthly check on the balances im sitting at 688....thats why you want to keep balances paid off when you get them, not even at the end of the month, i usually buy something with my card, go home get online and make a payment to my card for the price of whatever i charged
- 1993 Honda Civic VX
- 2008 Acura TL-S
usually get better deals online, just make sure you read up on what your getting. my bank is online only, and i got my main credit card through my bankOriginally Posted by PBS
- 1993 Honda Civic VX
- 2008 Acura TL-S
Well FUK. I went and took out a loan to "boost" my credit and it docked me like 17 points!!! I went from a 719 to a 697. Thats some bull****!!
be like michael jackson, become white?![]()
I never checked it. AT&T ran it once then I just so happen to feel the need to get a loan to "boost" my credit. So it was twice in 3 months.Originally Posted by PBS
I didn't read all the posts but I have outstanding credit and I'm only 21 and here is how I went about it.
First, if you can, I'd get an American Express. Simple reason is interest doesn't hit until after a late payment and they give you a month or so to pay, always good. But what I do is I have my apartment in my name, cable electric so on so forth, and I put all my bills on my american express and at the end of the month pay of the american express. So I am getting credit score for holding a lease with an apartment, my bills, and then my credit score from my credit card. I checked it last year and it was at about mid-high 700s. I started doing all that 2 years prior.
Of course I own this.
IT PUTS THE OREOS ON THE RIM
PBS, do it the easy way... just steal someone else's identity that has good credit and be done with it. It'll make life a little more interesting.![]()
Back to being stock and slow
oh ok. That might not work then... Well, Just steal one of us white people's identity.They never look for us!
Back to being stock and slow
haha It should've worked then... Well practice makes perfect so keep trying.
Back to being stock and slow
I'm in some what of a similar position trying to build my score for the future. I def. try to live within my limit, and I wont lie at times you spend an extra dollar you could save. But to be real with you even that is understandable. If you had a hard week, you've done well no one is saying you can not treat yourself to a meal outside or whatever it might be that makes you happy as long as its within moderation.
Is there any reason you keep pushing for an AMEX? I know I have been considering a new credit card myself...but I haven't limited myself to an Amex just yet. I have been considering AMEX, Discover, and Citi cards. From the looks of it AMEX seems to offer the longest possible length of time for no APR which is 15 months. and Discover is only doing 6 months. Citi doing up to 12 months..
Of what I hear and know I really like Discover cards...but I don't like only getting 6 months no APR. AMEX is AMEX..everyone knows it, and I like their up to 15 months, but at the same time I would think its much easier to get a Citi card than it is an AMEX
AMEX is the only thing that would approve him.![]()
Back to being stock and slow
I've had an AMEX Business Gold Charge Account for 4 Years now. I've Maintained balances between $200 and $4000 monthly. I pay it off every month and GUESS WHAT?????
It doesn't show up and my credit report. Charge Accounts can work wonders for your score since you settle up on a monthly basis.
Only reason I don't sweat it is because i have a 780 Middle Credit Score.
Leisa and S. 4 Life NM?