Avg Score 597 in Sept 20 - June 2021 654, 618 and 661

I joined this forum years ago, to repair my credit. It was slow going. I didn't come around much.
Credit did start to get better though.
Then the 'other one,' decided to leave and get the truck we had just bought together, repo'd.
I came back, to try again to repair my credit. And again... I was slow.

FiNALLY! Last September, I got an email from Credit Karma that my credit score had gone up. I logged in to see and lo and behold! I was just below 600 (597 and 596 or close to that.)

I actually looked around in my Credit Karma account... saw I was pre-approved for Fingerhut. Applied and was given a $300 credit line.

I just let it 'season,' for a couple of months, during which time I started following some credit repair channels on YouTube.

At Christmas, I used my Fingerhut account to buy a couple of things for my boys for Christmas, then I made two payments before the closing statement date, with the second payment leaving me with only 2% utilization on the entire credit line..

Then I got pre-approved for a Credit One card. $400 limit. Have used that card the same way.

*Now I keep that 2% utilization on one card only and pay the others off completely.

Then Capital One Wal Mart card. $300 limit. Just like the others... 2 payments, before the closing statement date.

Then the Avant card with a limit of $750.00

I currently have 3 additional 'pre-approval' letters from 3 other cards, and 3 'pre-approved' personal loan letters from 3 different lenders as well.

I just bought a car, in cash, so no car payment.

And as of today my scores are:

TransUnion (Credit Karma): 654
Equifax (Credit Karma): 618 (I did inquire about a car loan 3 or so months ago, and I was denied, however, the adverse decision letter showed my Equifax credit score to be 680 then.)
Experian (Experian): 661

I had set a goal to hit 680 on all 3 credit bureaus by March 30 of this year. And although I didn't make that goal, I have still make 'progress,' so I'm happy. But now, I need to kick it up a notch.

I know that a real estate loan would be beneficial to my score, and I'm working on that. Being self-employed in a cash business, I only show income on my tax returns. No paycheck stubs, no deposits. I finally got an EIN and payroll software and now I'm going to form an LLC and start issuing myself 'paychecks,' with paystubs to correct this issue.

The 'new' accounts are lowering my 'average age of credit,' so I may need to invest in one or two OLD, established tradelines to bring that back up. (Unless anyone else has any suggestions?)

I'm only showing about $11K in student loan debt, and those payments, along with all others, are 100% paid on time for over 60 months.

The only other 'bad' things are a couple of collections and a repo-turned' charge-off on the truck 'the other one,' took when he left and never made the payments on. I'm going to make a separate thread for each of those issues, and I'll outline a plan if I have one (asking for eyes to tell me if I'm missing anything or doing anything incorrectly,) and if I don't have one, I'll ask for guidance on a plan. *This way, I won't get everything all convoluted and mixed up regarding what to do about each issue.

I'm looking forward to hearing what you all think... thanks in advance for your feedback and help and guidance and support.

 

Well, this is not a car repair forum, but yes, in my experience, that could make your car shake, especially if it happens once you go over a certain speed. Luckily, a U joint is a fairly easy and inexpensive fix (in most cases as has been my experience). The caveat is that you have 'warning' (the shaking and a creaking sound you'll hear when you turn the wheels or back up), and if you do it now, it won't be a big deal, but once it breaks, that's a bad, bad, bad day... your car will not be movable once it breaks. Fix it immediately.