The Awful Truth

Mark, I will keep watch with you, to make sure you do not acquire any more credit. If 90 something Thousand in credit is not enough, then we have some serious talking to do.

 

I respect your honesty Mark. Thanks for that.

I too have been blinded by the "Congratulations, You're Approved" high. After my approval success with Citi Platinum, I went and sat for half an hour in front of the Submit button for the GM Card! Then I pressed it and "Congratulations, You're Approved", again. Oh the joy! But I started to think about how my scores might take a temporary hit after these two cards start reporting (although I hope not much since I had only $600 in limits before) and I stopped there. But the guilt set in and I confessed to my S.O. (DF, whatever) that I got the second card. After all, the credit cleansing project was to prepare for the almighty mortgage in March '03. So I sit in anticipation of receiving my cards in the mail and wait for them to hit the reports and just pray that the possible temporary point drop will only be temporary.

I will not apply for more credit.
I will not charge ANYTHING (other than BT).
I will be a good girl.

 

Mark if you wouldn't mind listing your current cards and limits??

Of course if it's too long to type, I certainly would understand LOL

 

Twenty grand??????

For what? Glad you're facing reality.

 

Thanx for your sincerity Mark.

 

Mark & others,

Recently I paid off and closed 8 credit card accounts. As of today I only have 3 and already I feel much better. My plan is to reduce it to 1 by the end of the year. Having too much credit is not fun for me anymore. Good luck.

 

ONE IS THE WRONG ANSWER...if your get "JACKED" you have no where to go!!!

F.I.C.O. will take a DUMP to under 600!!!

MAYBE I'M WRONG...BUT I WON'T EVER GO DOWN TO ONE (4 IS THE LEAST YOU SHOULD HAVE)!!!

 

George,

My wife has 1 mortgage account, 1 car loan account and 1 credit card account on file...2 years and 8 months credit history and her FICO is 747...go figure...

 

I am only going by what I know and the history of other people...

 

Mark,

I am TRYING to feel your pain, I'm trying really hard, and I just can't get there.

Addicted to the high of "you're approved" -- oh yeahhhhhh, I felt that when target approved me for $250 ;-)

I just wanted to say you've come a long way from your 2k card, that wasn't by accident. Good credit when wisely used is a resource, a wealth building tool.

You're sharp enough to step back and see yourself walking by, then take action based on that perspective -- that's real wealth, good on you, I say.

YOU'RE APPROVED!

I agree with you, commiting intentions to writing solidifies your goal and the actions needed to reach it.

YOU'RE APPROVED! LOL, you could make that a screen saver for whenever you need to read it.

Sassy

 

I know how you feel, Mark. When I realized how fast my balances were creeping up, I cut up all except two of my credit cards. Once I pay the balances down, I can get them to send me new cards if for some reason I feel I want to use those accounts. Its so easy for them to creep up without realizing it. Even if you only use them a little, when you have 10-12 cards...a little adds up to a lot.


L

 

At my worst, I owed $29,000 in credit cards. Later, I owed another ~$75,000 in student loans. In the late 1990s, I married a woman who had another ~$12,000 in credit card debt. The day I realized that if I added up my Barnett Bank card balance with my Chemical Bank card with my Citibank card with my NBC credit line, plus Sears, Penney's, Radio Shack (those were the days when they still put a space between "Radio" and "Shack"), and a half dozen other specialty cards, that it added it up $29k was the very same day I sat with a good friend in a restaurant booth in Knoxville and cried like a baby about it. My strategy for tackling the credit card debt was to borrow a LOT in student loans over the next 6 years, which is how I ended up with the ~$75k on that tab. After all, I told myself, interest rates on student loans were so low that it was practically like "free money" (I actually used that phrase). Well, to be sure, the APRs on student loans were MUCH BETTER than my old 1980s-era credit card APRs by a long shot, so transferring those balances to the student loan category was a good move in that respect. On the other hand, what I didn't realize was this: Even if a loan has NO INTEREST (dream on, lol), IT'S NEVER "FREE MONEY" IF IT'S BORROWED MONEY THAT IS SPENT ON STUFF -- BECAUSE ONE DAY YOU STILL HAVE TO PAY IT BACK. What a delusion. Over the next 10 years I did indeed pay off those student loans as well as my wife's credit card balance. Today we pay off the cards we use every month. We have no credit card debt, and our two late-90s cars are paid off. What a life change that's been. I post this testimonial as encouragement for Mark LA. Believe me, I know how you feel; but please also know that this is a surmountable problem. Believe me when I say that if I can pay off a lot of consumer debt despite my poor organizational skills, ANYBODY CAN DO IT!

Doc

 

Hi Mark!

I feel your pain. I got 6 new cards in July and I got the Target Visa last month.

I only have $1500 in cc debt with about $15k+ available credit lines and that feels like alot to me. I am paying down all my balances but I keep thinking, omg - christmas and 5 b-days are coming up I *have* to buy something. But, I now know after all that I've been through, that is "faulty thinking".

I hope to apply for a mortgage soon and I'm thinking these people are going to think I'm crazy when they see I have 15 cc with 8 added in july and aug. I regret it now.

So I applaud you for realizing that after the 'high' of "you are approved"!!! reality comes when you start to get the bills and they add up quickly. And, I hope you can live up to your promise because ultimately you answer to yourself.

Good luck

 

I believe you, because I think you see how much it hurts to look at those balances ;-)

Yes, kinda like therapy huh?
You can't see us, we can't see you ;-)

I actually had a list of 5 things I was going to apply for when my credit score got higher, but after your insightful post, I've cut it down to 2.

Thank you for your eye-opening post.

 

thanks mark.

I take it the Jcrew card is your oldest??