Got approved with capital one 0%

[ejhamilton]

Good for you for accepting the offer! I'm really shocked at how many people are being so pessimistic about this. Some people learn their lessons after bankruptcy, and some people do learn self control. Not everyone is going to mess up again and to assume so is just wrong.

If you end up with a huge medical bill, a lot of hospitals work out payment plans, you should do that first. And if you can't pay it, why put it on your credit card only to build ridiculous interest, knowing you can't pay it? That makes no sense.

If you want to rebuild credit but are afraid you can't control your spending, then get a secured credit card. You can only charge what you put on it.

And for those emergencies, you should have a cash savings. If you can live on a cash budget before and during your bankruptcy, then you can do it after. Pick up a 2nd job to build up your savings if need be. Bankruptcy should change they way you think about spending permanently, not just temporarily.

It's very difficult to rebuild credit if you don't use credit. I will be using a credit card to buy my groceries, then pay it off with the cash I budgeted for the groceries. I was always told that if you paid off the balance before a bill was generated then your payment won't be reported to the credit agencies, since there will technically not be a bill due to be paid.

Good luck!

[NY1]

I dont understand why people are saying not to get any credit cards? It is a great way to start to re-build your credit and start a new life. Yeah if you didnt learn from your mistakes then dont get another card.

Also not everyones file BK because of over-spending...some people file due to medical bills etc....So if someone gets slapped with a $250,000 bill because they go cancer and then files for BK....Are you saying that person shouldnt get another credit card because they are going to wind up back where they were?

[mmertens67]

post a little update here. so i was approved with capital one and recieved the card about 5 weeks ago. in that time i have used the card and paid it off. my credit limit was $500 and today got a letter from capital one increasing my limit to $750! Even though I carry a $0 balance now I'm shocked how quickly they are increasing my limit. That's not good at all. I wrote on the front of the card, "use me and i'm a loan" not free money like all my friends think. Anyways, couldn;t be better not having any debt! I can go and do as I please and no longer a servant to the lender.

I am curious if you included a Capital One card in your BK. We did and we have not received any offers except from cc's that are offered for those with low credit scores. High fees and interest rates. Not interested. I need to clean up our credit report now that we are discharged. I know there are things being reported incorrectly that are affecting our scores. We have a secured credit card with a credit union for 14.9%. Do you mind sharing what your interest rate will be after the introductory period ends? Thanks.

[backtoschool]

I am curious if you included a Capital One card in your BK. We did and we have not received any offers except from cc's that are offered for those with low credit scores. High fees and interest rates. Not interested. I need to clean up our credit report now that we are discharged. I know there are things being reported incorrectly that are affecting our scores. We have a secured credit card with a credit union for 14.9%. Do you mind sharing what your interest rate will be after the introductory period ends? Thanks.

Here is a link to another thread on this topic where rates, etc are discussed. If you can sift through the trolling and flaming there is a lot of info in the thread that will answer your questions.

http://www.bkforum.com/showthread.php?t=48086&page=9

[suneray]

Maybe the goverment should make CC companies put pictures of homeless people, table settings of loaf bread and water, repo trucks hauling off cars and such on the face of the credit cards under the Truth in Lending laws.

Haha! That reminds of when I visited another country, they were required to put pictures on cigarettes packs that would deter people from smoking such as diseased lungs and people using oxygen tanks. The pictures were quite grotesque. If only they did that here and with everything that was bad for us!

Actions that don't have immediate consequences make it hard for people to make the connection on how bad it can be in the long run (myself included). Its not just about self control, its human behavior and these companies know how to take advantage of that.

[mmertens67]

backtoschool, Thanks for the link.

[bakergrl]

For those that said to shred it, do you have any suggestions on how to build up our credit? We would like to buy a bigger house within 5 years if we can sell the one we are in, but we need to rebuild our credit and need ideas how to do so without CC's.

[ejhamilton]

I'm not one that agrees to shred, but I have yet to find a person that wants you to shred it give suggestions.

I think we ALL agree that if at all possible, stay away from credit cards. However, I also think that a lot of people agree that if you are wanting to buy a house in a few years, you need a credit card to rebuild credit. As much as it stinks, we can't change the system.

The mortgage lender is going to want to see that after your bk you were able to take on responsibility again. They want to see that you have learned your lesson and the fastest way to do that is by getting a credit card, or a secured credit card, and paying it off IN FULL every month. I wish there was another way, but if you only have a mortgage you are paying, and maybe an installment loan, you have no available credit, which makes up 30% of your FICO score.

This is what makes up your FICO score:
Paying your bills on time 35%
Total balance of debt(credit cards & loans) compared to your total credit limit 30%
Length of your credit history 15%
New accounts and recent applications for credit 10%
Mix of credit cards & loans 10%

I suggest having 2 credit cards. You can just as easily build up credit by charging $5 every month and paying it off every month. You don't have to charge a huge amount and then pay it off. You can't just get them and never use them either, it is likely that the company will close the card, and you don't want that because it depletes your available credit.

If you are not ready to take on a credit card, you can get a secured credit card. It's a pre-pay card that reports to the credit bureaus. There are not many out there. You could put $100 on it, then charge $5, and pay back the $5 when you get the bill. It works the same. You control your credit limit.

The lenders like to see that you have a lot of available credit. This shows them that if an emergency happens, you can use your credit card(but hope you don't!) instead of skipping a mortgage payment.

I worked for a mortgage company pulling, verifying, and checking the scores to see if there was a possibility for a loan. I NEVER once saw a person with a bk on their credit report over 2 years old get a loan without paying off credit cards every month. They all rebuild there credit this way. This is how I knew that there was HOPE after bk. People who did this diligently typically had scores from 680 - 720.