Originally posted by SonnyBoy
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Rebuilding credit is no easy task for a few key reasons.
Number 1, we're all dumb if we're in this mess. Sure we can blame hard times, or overarching necessity, but the bottom line is, think back to the beginning of your credit life. At the end of High School or College, right? And what do they teach you in college about how to handle personal finances, establish and build credit over time, and prepare yourself for financial hurdles in your future? ABSOLUTELY NOTHING! And the fine print on those credit cards and offers, well, that's so small, we don't take time to read all that, and those card companies know it.
Number 2, we're creatures of habit. We can blame circumstances, cards, or even Christmas, but the bottom line is, we're at fault because we have bad spending and credit habits.
In most cases, number 2 is caused by number 1. Unfortunately, both end up putting you in a pile of "number 2" fast in life. I've been through defaulted school loans, lease break penalties, credit card delinquencies, car loan delinquencies, unemployment and unforseen medical complications and disability, you name it! You can read about all of that all day on my personal blog I started at armchaircreditrepair. blogspot . com. I started it because I had people asking me about what I went through and what I've learned, so feel free to read it and either be bored to death or find an occasional nugget of wisdom.
One of those nuggets of learning I've had is dealing with banks, secured cards, and unsecured accounts online and elsewhere. Short story is this: The big box banks are clowns. They try to bait you in with all the promises of their credit cards and future things you can do, then do nothing to help you with your credit down the line. For example, I had a BOA account started in '04 and, although having rough financial problems at the time, started a secured card by paying like $300 for a $500 card. They refunded that to me after some time passed and I did well on my payments, but I still have to pay $30/yr for an annual fee and the % rate isn't great. The kicker is, they don't raise my credit line at all, even though I've rebuilt my score to a much better level. My point, watch out for the small ones with no room to move. Tips: Check out credit unions that may be more flexible or generous. Check out some online tradelines with an online store out there (watch for scams). I've found a few legit ones, and they've helped me quickly raise up my availability. One of them is a place called enchanted attire. Not cheap, but compared to the money I've put into that little BOA card, it's worth it, especially for the $5k line I have open with them. I enjoy some good positive credit account reporting from them for it by just putting a purchase on there about once per quarter and paying off full. I hate my BOA card and plan to ditch it soon, but only after my new credit union line for $7500 gets a few more months of history (as I said, credit union much more generous, surprisingly so for me...my mouth dropped when they said I was qualified for this, called me a "B" credit guy. In fact, I think the online account with EA probably helped raise up my score enough to get me there. I don't have much knowledge of the Orchard Bank offer but sounds ok, depends on the limit. Whatever you do, also make sure you manage your new lines and keep them positive. Like I said, we're creatures of habit, and if you are not careful, your old bad habits will re-manifest themselves!
Number 1, we're all dumb if we're in this mess. Sure we can blame hard times, or overarching necessity, but the bottom line is, think back to the beginning of your credit life. At the end of High School or College, right? And what do they teach you in college about how to handle personal finances, establish and build credit over time, and prepare yourself for financial hurdles in your future? ABSOLUTELY NOTHING! And the fine print on those credit cards and offers, well, that's so small, we don't take time to read all that, and those card companies know it.
Number 2, we're creatures of habit. We can blame circumstances, cards, or even Christmas, but the bottom line is, we're at fault because we have bad spending and credit habits.
In most cases, number 2 is caused by number 1. Unfortunately, both end up putting you in a pile of "number 2" fast in life. I've been through defaulted school loans, lease break penalties, credit card delinquencies, car loan delinquencies, unemployment and unforseen medical complications and disability, you name it! You can read about all of that all day on my personal blog I started at armchaircreditrepair. blogspot . com. I started it because I had people asking me about what I went through and what I've learned, so feel free to read it and either be bored to death or find an occasional nugget of wisdom.
One of those nuggets of learning I've had is dealing with banks, secured cards, and unsecured accounts online and elsewhere. Short story is this: The big box banks are clowns. They try to bait you in with all the promises of their credit cards and future things you can do, then do nothing to help you with your credit down the line. For example, I had a BOA account started in '04 and, although having rough financial problems at the time, started a secured card by paying like $300 for a $500 card. They refunded that to me after some time passed and I did well on my payments, but I still have to pay $30/yr for an annual fee and the % rate isn't great. The kicker is, they don't raise my credit line at all, even though I've rebuilt my score to a much better level. My point, watch out for the small ones with no room to move. Tips: Check out credit unions that may be more flexible or generous. Check out some online tradelines with an online store out there (watch for scams). I've found a few legit ones, and they've helped me quickly raise up my availability. One of them is a place called enchanted attire. Not cheap, but compared to the money I've put into that little BOA card, it's worth it, especially for the $5k line I have open with them. I enjoy some good positive credit account reporting from them for it by just putting a purchase on there about once per quarter and paying off full. I hate my BOA card and plan to ditch it soon, but only after my new credit union line for $7500 gets a few more months of history (as I said, credit union much more generous, surprisingly so for me...my mouth dropped when they said I was qualified for this, called me a "B" credit guy. In fact, I think the online account with EA probably helped raise up my score enough to get me there. I don't have much knowledge of the Orchard Bank offer but sounds ok, depends on the limit. Whatever you do, also make sure you manage your new lines and keep them positive. Like I said, we're creatures of habit, and if you are not careful, your old bad habits will re-manifest themselves!