Thread: Help!! I am desperate for advice!!!

Where do I start! I have done so much damage over the years its rediculas! I am 33 (soon to be 34), and I have 3 children. Im finally at the point where I dread how my credit looks. I cant do anything! I cant even get credit to buy lint to make a pair of socks! My Experian score is a 526(ugh),my transunion score is a 587 (sheesh), and my Equifax score is a 605 (vile). I never knew the value of credit scores but now I see how carelessness can really hurt a person in the long run. I have had the opportunity to have an Orchard bank card, First Premier, Capitol one, and an Imagine card, and I ruined them all! I was JUST (as of a few minutes ago) approved for a 2500 limit with Crown Jewelers (I was reading other threads about how good it was to have one), but thats it. I applied for a chevron card but I have yet to find out the status on that. My question for all of you who has been where I am and are serious about getting out of this stump is whats a good card to have to build my score while I slowly pay what I can? I am currently unemployed but I do get some income. I figured I can pay little bits and pieces until I find work where I can pay larger amounts. Anything I can do to raise my score to an (out of danger) number would be a blessing.

First welcome, next a lot of questions:

What kind of damage are you talking about? There is a reason why your scores are low; high debt to credit limit, app-o-rama, slow pay, no pay, charged off(s), judgment(s) etc. What is status of the four cards you “ruined”?

Applying for more credit will NOT help you at this stage so STOP APPLYING.

Are these FICO scores or FAKO scores?

If you are serious about getting out of this slump you need to understand what needs to done with the four cards you “ruined” (stopping more damage), come clean to yourself why you are in this situation (overspending, lack of income, economy etc.). Then you can come up with a plan for the future that doesn’t include credit limits at jewelers (they can’t put food on the table, or gas in your car, or pay a utility).

If you care to share a little more information regarding why the scores are so low there is a community of people here who can help.

My advice is to quit worrying about improving your credit score, and definitely to quit applying for credit at this time. As you are unemployed, and have dependents to care for, I suggest you focus on finding work and "socking away" some emergency funds so you can still pay your rent and buy groceries in the event that your income (which I assume is child support and/or public assistance) fails to arrive. Obtaining credit and building debt is not the way to do this!

Also, you should be aware that doing nothing--i.e. not applying for more credit and not defaulting on more debts going forward--will improve your credit over time. In fact, time is really the only thing which can heal a person's credit rating, as paying charged-off debts can often decrease the score, rather than increasing it.

Have you considered going back to school? Most of the jobs which were lost during this economic collapse will never return, so it's best to think about training for a new career.

You so right. Right now the only income is Child support (no public assistance), and no rent or real bills to pay. I help family with rent so its not outrageous. I had no idea doing nothing (not applying for cards) would help. I was told I HAD to have open lines of some kind of credit in order to build. I literally just received my Associated degree in Health and Human Services, so I have been hammering away at looking for a job (I've never wanted to work so bad in my life).

Yup, doing nothing will help your credit improve over time. When I realized--back in March of 2009--that I was going to lose my job soon, I quit paying ALL of my unsecured debts. I let my credit cards charge off, my cellphone terminate, and my other debts which I was paying on go to collections. By November of 2009, when everything charged off, my credit was in the low 400's. Now, after 2 years of doing nothing--and paying nothing--my credit scores have slowly crept up, and are now in the 515 to 530 range. Eventually, the debts will age off of my credit reports, and then I will have good credit again.

BTW, when I lost my job in 2009, I decided to go to college, so I am now a full-time student. In this economy, going back to school is the smartest thing to do.

WOW!!!! My first thought would be to suffer trying to pay for the smaller things first and leave the bigger things alone...but I have no real funds to do so. My cell bill is so big now I wont be able to pay it within that 120 day period, so I know its going to lower my already struggling score. Im praying that my new degree gets my foot in the door of a promising career. Congrats on school by the way.

Thank you so much for welcoming me. It feels great knowing there are people that care enough to share friendly and non judgmental advice. Ill answer all questions. The damage done was from old credit card bills, and some new apps that came up denied. There are some old judgments, and from the looks of things all the charge offs are years old...some as old as 2006. The fico/fako scores...hmmm...not too sure on the difference. I signed up for identity theft protection that provides info on activity along with quarterly updated on my scores, but from reading posts, I learned some of these scores can be way off.
Overall, lack of financial score education, lack of discipline, and immaturity has me in this hole. I have finally decided to stop with the shoulda woulda coulda's, and start with the what can I do to's.