Quote Originally Posted by BMW
I agree with most of what you said except the above.

The bills you mentioned have no way of helping your credit due to the fact that they aren't revolving accounts nor are they reported in good standing. They will affect your credit if you default on them. Sure, they check your credit for cell phones, cable, etc., but they only check it to ensure that you qualify. (eg : outstanding collections with the similar company your applying for) Also gaining more debt isn't a good way to fix credit. Its a good way to get in over your head therefore making your credit worse.

The best way to improve a credit score is time.

Pay off any derogatory balances/accounts and slowly open accounts you can manage.

Also try to minimize any credit inquiries.
You are 100% correct. Cell phones, utilities, insurance, cable, etc have NO effect on your credit unless you default. You could pay your phone bill on time, every month for 15 years and it does nothing. They do not report to the credit bureaus. I used to look at about 20 credit reports per day when i worked in auto finance and can pull my own up at any time becuase I have one of those credit monitoring services. I assure you, my phone, gas, insurance, cable are not on there and never have been.

First of all, you need to work on your past due accounts. Work out a payment plan with them. Are they still trying to collect? There is a point where they give up and stop trying (sometimes, depends on the collection agency) and after that it takes years for the effect on your credit to lessen. Technically, If they want, they can keep reporting and that bad debt can stay with you for a decade or more. It is a large amount?

As for opening a secured card, you can easily get one with really bad credit. Why? Becuase you are securing it with cash. You give them $300, they give you a card with a $300 limit. No risk to them. They still get to collect interest on your balances so it's a big win for the credit card company. They report it and you slowly build credit. But if you have negative items still reporting, it will take a long time for this to do much good.

Gas cards and jewelry store credit cards are easy to get. Go get a card somewhere cheap like Friedmans, buy a watch or something and pay it off by paying a little over the minimum each month.

You've got to figure out the situation with the bad debt though. With no resolution, it can continue to hurt you for years. Debt collectors are getting more aggressive and don't give up as easily as they did in years past.