New Kid on the Block

Discussion in 'Credit Talk' started by ocdavep, Mar 4, 2008.

  1. ocdavep

    ocdavep New Member

    First off hello everyone. I've been one of those guests that you see reading the boards and finally decided to register! : ) I'm 23 years old and my credit score is 543, which is up from the 475 it was about this time last year. I'm making a conscious effort to pay down debt and get things taken care of. The only 2 cards i currently have open are a chase with a credit limit of $300 and a balance of $270 and a sports authority with a credit limit of $500 and a balance of around $300.

    In addition to those I have a Saks card with a balance of $100 but it was closed by them this time last year. I have a juniper card with a credit limit of $1000 but a balance of $1700(can't seem to make any leeway here!!) which they are closing upon my renewal date in April.

    I have a car loan that i've had since 2004 that has a balance of about $6000 that i've never been more than one payment behind on (which has never reported THANK GOD!). I have two student loans as I am a full-time student. One of the student loans is deferred and very small around $4,000 and I have another student loan that is also deferred to take care of some tuition I was delinquent on about a year and a half ago for $6000.

    Lastly, I have a charge off for a motorcycle I bought, which charged off in Jan 07 for $4,500. Also I have a balance of about $700 that charged off from a firestone credit card.

    Thank you if you haven't given up on me by this part of the post I know that took forever but I'm trying not to hide anything so everyone knows my situation. Before I took a DRASTIC pay cut at work I was able to pay all my bills on time and always paid a little more than my minimums as I do work for Discover card and do see horrible things happen to good people all the time. As I continue on my quest at such a young age to rebuild what I destroyed I seek the help of all you experts. What I would love to do is transfer all my remaining balances to a card with maybe an intro rate? I tried applying for a citi student platinum card that the credit search sad is for people with damaged/bad credit. Was this a good choice? Any other advice? Any other help is greatly appreciated!!! Sorry this was so long.
     
  2. jlynn

    jlynn Well-Known Member

    Hate to be doom and gloom here, but with your scores, you probably won't qualify for a credit limit large enough to meet your needs, much less an interest rate that is going to help you out as far as tackling paying the debt down.

    I bet you aren't making any leeway with Juniper because of the over-the-limit fees you are probably getting nailed with monthly. If it were me, I would probably try the snowball effect. Focus all your expendable extra money on this card to get it below the limit. If you can pay online, pay amounts to it as often as you get paid - that chops at the interest just a bit.

    Again, if it were me, I would ignore the charge offs for the time being. They have done all the damage they can do to your report (unless the OC's sue you), and time will help ease your FICO pain there. Focus all your energies on getting below 50% on your open cards, and getting the cards not-charged off , but closed paid to $0 as they affect your ratios as well.
     
  3. Hedwig

    Hedwig Well-Known Member

    I agree with jlynn. Getting the balances down is the most important, but concentrate on Juniper first. I'd say make minimums on the others until you get that below the credit limit.
     

Share This Page