| |
 |
|
|
Finance & Stock Groups Forum Index » Financial Planning » Bad Credit Problems
Page 1 of 1
|
| Author |
Message |
| Guest |
 Posted: Fri Aug 24, 2007 3:01 am |
|
|
|
|
Hello everyone, I'm new to Google Groups and a friend recommended I
try this out to get an good answer to a very tough question.
I am a 26 year old artist/assistant currently living in New York
(moving to Philadelphia). I just found out that I have a credit score
of 575 and that my credit card company (USAA) canceled my credit card
due to flagrant delinquent payments. I was incredibly naive and did
not understand that credit cards needed to get paid off EVERY MONTH.
Believe me, I know that now, so if you can spend as little time
flaming me for stupidity, that would be wonderful :)
Due to anxiety about mounting fees, I did not check my bills often. I
also know now that was incredibly irresponsible as well. My main
question is: now that the damage is done, what is the most effective
way of restoring my credit rating to a passable level and how to get a
credit card again so I can start a healthy system of paying it off on
time every month.
Thank you so much in advance for your advice!
--Stressed out in NY |
|
|
| Back to top |
|
| Andrew Koenig |
| Posted: Fri Aug 24, 2007 3:25 am |
|
|
|
Guest
|
<crossedantlers@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1187906643.502945.47820@r23g2000prd.googlegroups.com...
Quote: Due to anxiety about mounting fees, I did not check my bills often. I
also know now that was incredibly irresponsible as well. My main
question is: now that the damage is done, what is the most effective
way of restoring my credit rating to a passable level and how to get a
credit card again so I can start a healthy system of paying it off on
time every month.
You might try going to a credit union or a local bank (i.e. one that isn't
part of a huge conglomerate), explaining your situation, and seeing if you
can get a credit card with a low limit secured by a corresponding deposit.
If you pay that regularly for a few years, they might start to trust you
again.
Failing that, you could get a debit card.
The trouble, of course, is that even if you realize you've behaved
irresponsibly, there isn't any easy way to prove that realization to other
people aside from behaving responsibility for a suitable period of time.
Which might be years. |
|
|
| Back to top |
|
| Justin |
| Posted: Fri Aug 24, 2007 3:51 am |
|
|
|
Guest
|
Andrew Koenig wrote on [Thu, 23 Aug 2007 18:25:24 -0500]:
Quote: crossedantlers@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1187906643.502945.47820@r23g2000prd.googlegroups.com...
Due to anxiety about mounting fees, I did not check my bills often. I
also know now that was incredibly irresponsible as well. My main
question is: now that the damage is done, what is the most effective
way of restoring my credit rating to a passable level and how to get a
credit card again so I can start a healthy system of paying it off on
time every month.
You might try going to a credit union or a local bank (i.e. one that isn't
part of a huge conglomerate), explaining your situation, and seeing if you
can get a credit card with a low limit secured by a corresponding deposit.
If you pay that regularly for a few years, they might start to trust you
again.
Failing that, you could get a debit card.
A debit card won't help in this situation, at all. They are not reported
to CRAs.
If you can't get a credit card from a local CU, bank or whatever, try a
gas station, store card, or similar. Or, find a good secured card
issuer.
Pay it off on time every month, don't let your balance get abover 30%,
and within a 6 months your credit will start improving, and should be
pretty good in 2 years.
As for the USAA account, if that's not paid off, ask them to take it off
your credit report if you pay it off, get it in writing, pay it off and
enjoy.
Check your bills, pay your bills every month, live and learn. |
|
|
| Back to top |
|
| joetaxpayer |
| Posted: Fri Aug 24, 2007 4:17 am |
|
|
|
Guest
|
crossedantlers@gmail.com wrote:
Quote: I was incredibly naive and did
not understand that credit cards needed to get paid off EVERY MONTH.
Well, not exactly. You must make the minimum payment on time each month.
Depending on the card, it's 2-5% of the balance. Ideally, you would not
charge more than you can repay when the bill comes due.
Quote: Due to anxiety about mounting fees, I did not check my bills often. I
also know now that was incredibly irresponsible as well.
This is tough. You can get away with the occasional payment a few weeks
late, but the key is to never miss a minimum payment.
The secured card (as Andrew suggested) is the way to go. And clearing up
whatever was still outstanding. You don't want a charge off on your account.
JOE |
|
|
| Back to top |
|
| none |
| Posted: Fri Aug 24, 2007 12:59 pm |
|
|
|
Guest
|
In article <79SdnWxl9sXxvlPbnZ2dnUVZ_rqlnZ2d@comcast.com>,
joetaxpayer <joetaxpayer@nospam.com> wrote:
Quote:
crossedantlers@gmail.com wrote:
I was incredibly naive and did
not understand that credit cards needed to get paid off EVERY MONTH.
Well, not exactly. You must make the minimum payment on time each month.
Depending on the card, it's 2-5% of the balance. Ideally, you would not
charge more than you can repay when the bill comes due.
Due to anxiety about mounting fees, I did not check my bills often. I
also know now that was incredibly irresponsible as well.
This is tough. You can get away with the occasional payment a few weeks
late, but the key is to never miss a minimum payment.
One technique that I've adopted is to set up an automatic payment of the
minimum balance. Virtually every card has that feature from their online
account management tools now. That way I can be sure not to miss that
minimum payment and then pay anything additional on the cards when I pay
the other bills during the month.
BAJ |
|
|
| Back to top |
|
| Justin |
| Posted: Fri Aug 24, 2007 1:09 pm |
|
|
|
Guest
|
none wrote on [Fri, 24 Aug 2007 03:59:54 -0500]:
Quote: In article <79SdnWxl9sXxvlPbnZ2dnUVZ_rqlnZ2d@comcast.com>,
joetaxpayer <joetaxpayer@nospam.com> wrote:
crossedantlers@gmail.com wrote:
I was incredibly naive and did
not understand that credit cards needed to get paid off EVERY MONTH.
Well, not exactly. You must make the minimum payment on time each month.
Depending on the card, it's 2-5% of the balance. Ideally, you would not
charge more than you can repay when the bill comes due.
Due to anxiety about mounting fees, I did not check my bills often. I
also know now that was incredibly irresponsible as well.
This is tough. You can get away with the occasional payment a few weeks
late, but the key is to never miss a minimum payment.
One technique that I've adopted is to set up an automatic payment of the
minimum balance. Virtually every card has that feature from their online
account management tools now. That way I can be sure not to miss that
minimum payment and then pay anything additional on the cards when I pay
the other bills during the month.
I have my cards setup for pay in full every month. Works a charm. |
|
|
| Back to top |
|
| joetaxpayer |
| Posted: Fri Aug 24, 2007 5:58 pm |
|
|
|
Guest
|
Justin wrote:
Quote: none wrote on [Fri, 24 Aug 2007 03:59:54 -0500]:
One technique that I've adopted is to set up an automatic payment of the
minimum balance. Virtually every card has that feature from their online
account management tools now. That way I can be sure not to miss that
minimum payment and then pay anything additional on the cards when I pay
the other bills during the month.
I have my cards setup for pay in full every month. Works a charm.
Of course this assumes a bit more, that one is watching their charges
enough so they never run the risk of overdrawing their bank account or
bouncing the payment.
I had a card that offered 5% cash back on all gas, drug store, and
grocery purchases, but it had a payment cycle that was pretty short. I
set it up to pay $100 automatically, and the couple times my manual
payment missed their deadline, I just had an interest charge, as the
minimum was still paid. The 5% rebates were canceled, I guess they had
too many 'deadbeats' just collecting that money, and I killed those cards.
JOE |
|
|
| Back to top |
|
| David |
| Posted: Fri Aug 24, 2007 7:45 pm |
|
|
|
Guest
|
In article <ic6dnYUI3cNOrlPbnZ2dnUVZ_vihnZ2d@comcast.com>,
byron@upstairs (none) (Byron Jeff) wrote:
Quote: In article <79SdnWxl9sXxvlPbnZ2dnUVZ_rqlnZ2d@comcast.com>,
joetaxpayer <joetaxpayer@nospam.com> wrote:
crossedantlers@gmail.com wrote:
I was incredibly naive and did
not understand that credit cards needed to get paid off EVERY MONTH.
Well, not exactly. You must make the minimum payment on time each month.
Depending on the card, it's 2-5% of the balance. Ideally, you would not
charge more than you can repay when the bill comes due.
Due to anxiety about mounting fees, I did not check my bills often. I
also know now that was incredibly irresponsible as well.
This is tough. You can get away with the occasional payment a few weeks
late, but the key is to never miss a minimum payment.
One technique that I've adopted is to set up an automatic payment of the
minimum balance. Virtually every card has that feature from their online
account management tools now. That way I can be sure not to miss that
minimum payment and then pay anything additional on the cards when I pay
the other bills during the month.
BAJ
Many good answers to you question. Simply put, pay all of your bills
and debts on time and as agreed. One good way to enable you to do this
is to have enough savings to cover your cost of living for six months.
this cushion will ensure you can pay as you go, rather than delaying
payment till you have the money. best of luck.
--
I do the best I can, but I could be wrong.
please post reply to newsgroup.
David, Williamsport, PA. USA.
http://mysite.verizon.net/vzev1hs3/
======================================= MODERATOR'S COMMENT:
Please trim the post to which you are responding. "Trim" means that except for a FEW lines to add context, the previous post is deleted. |
|
|
| Back to top |
|
| Ignoramus2733 |
| Posted: Fri Aug 24, 2007 7:45 pm |
|
|
|
Guest
|
So, you did not like your bills, experienced anxiety, and did not pay
them?
Anyway, your problems go beyond having a bad credit score, you need to
make more money, save more, and owe less.
Credit score will eventually come back, but you need to do first
things first, which is pay what you owe and save.
i |
|
|
| Back to top |
|
| Don |
| Posted: Sat Aug 25, 2007 12:03 am |
|
|
|
Guest
|
<crossedantlers@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1187906643.502945.47820@r23g2000prd.googlegroups.com...
Quote: Hello everyone, I'm new to Google Groups and a friend recommended I
try this out to get an good answer to a very tough question.
I am a 26 year old artist/assistant currently living in New York
(moving to Philadelphia). I just found out that I have a credit score
of 575 and that my credit card company (USAA) canceled my credit card
I suspect that many people in difficulties caused by over-spending don't
really want to stop spending. They want to repair their credit so that
eventually they will be able to bring in more money, hopefully tomorrow or
next week, without being encumbered by debts and continue with extensive
spending once again. But that unspoken hope almost surely will lead to worse
difficulties. The true road to recovery is to face up to the unpleasant fact
that you will not be able to maintain the life style you would really like
and that you will have to live in deprived or semi-deprived conditions for
some extended period of time. That is hard. But, in the long run, doing away
with present gratification will lead to greater future rewards. That is the
sermon for today, folks. |
|
|
| Back to top |
|
| |
|
Page 1 of 1
All times are GMT
The time now is Fri Jan 09, 2009 2:34 am
|
|
|