I DON'T... ...but the number one reason could be INTEREST OVER 9.99%... If you REFUSE TO PAY >9.99% you should be OK...(pay all you can)... Take advantage of FEE FREE BT'S @ 0.00%-9.99%... NEVER BE LATE... I usually pay the bills ON-LINE, DIRECT CHARGE THE CREDIT CARD, or mail a check one week before it is due...
Then- no job - no income - no savings Using cc for living expenses. Lack of financial planning. Bad financial management and bill paying. Now- I have a budget. Write down each bill I have to pay and rarely charge items on my cc. I have a steady income. Live within my means, etc. I KNOW the consequences of bad credit and I am more mature and wise.
Bought a car which I had no business buying at the time. Everything sorta went downhill from there, until one day the friendly repo man paid me a visit wajaba
Hi We chose to be a one income family but it definately took its toll on our finances. We chose while we were young (in our 20's) to allow hubby to put his best efforts/ dreams first and be self employed for about 6-7 years. Lack of cash flow / steady income not enough $$ to even budget -hey ya got to eat right and feed the young-uns? savings forget it ! Total lack of understanding of howl credit works and how it can work in your favor (I think we just this year after SEVERAL charge offs have realized how to use/flex/care for our credit-this site has helped a lot with that) Knowledge is power and I am strong now...not to mention with the new simply smarter. Jamie
Husbands company went bankrupt, they owed him 3 weeks pay, plus severance and benefits (over $15,000 total). He couldn't find a job immediately and unemployment was only $200/wk. He had to wait 2 weeks for the first check - we went 5 weeks with only my income and credit cards to survive on. I was a stay at home mom and have few job skills, so i'm trying self employment. I did well until early 2001, now it's a struggle. When he first lost his job and I called to reduce interest most responded by raising rates to 30%, cutting the credit limit to the current balance and charging over limit fees. Only one company worked with us and settled for 25%, others said nothing less than 100%. We rent and can't find a cheaper place, partly due to our bad credit, 75% of our income goes to paying rent. We have 4 kids and it's a struggle. We have no assets and are trying to salvage our credit rather than BK. The new BK laws won't affect us, so there is no rush.
Good Comments, A HUGE part of your new strategies should be to save in what we call an emergency fund. You should have a minimum of 3-5 months worth of living expenses tucked away in a mutual fund in case of those unexpected "life events". That's the technical term for the unforeseen vissisitudes of life that can ruin your credit AGAIN, for another 7 years!
Cause #1) bought a car that I had no business buying when I was young and stupid. That hubby got tired of paying bills and would cash his pay and spend it. I didn't earn enough to cover it all. - divorced him and got disciplined. #2) credit had recovered. Then this hubby broke my arm and I was outta there. The 2.5 year custody battle cost me $72,000 I won, but it was costly... BK7. #3) Not having learned my lesson, I married hubby #3 who turns out to be a cronically unemployed drunk. When he is working, he drinks all his money. Mine is left to pay the bills. I got smart about 8 months ago and completely separated our finances. All bills of mine are paid on time. Filed for divorce once again. This time....... I live with my kids and have no man in my life.
I do not have bad credit personally except for allowing myself to be an authorized user on my husbands cc's. I have one deletion left on one report and then I am clean. But my husband is the sole breadwinner and he although he is an over achiever at work and life in general, he is not when it comes to paying the bills. He was depressed after his best friend commited suicide and let things go because he hates doing bills anyway and it was the easiest thing to do for him. Now since he has recovered we are digging ourselves out but I will be doing the family finances from now on.
Well, where should I begin? Mainly alot of stupid mistakes. I started out as a single mom with a couple of credit cards, and one job. I wasn't making very much, basically leaving outside of my means. Also waiting for child support checks to come every month, which they never did. Now hubby and I are just trying to fix all of our old mistakes, and hopefully the people on this board will help us. We have started a regular savings account, and a certificate builder, which we really can't touch anyway. So that's good. Hopefully by opening that up we are heading in the right direction. Andi
those are some stories. mine is a little more simple - i was the college idiot, financially and academically. not surprisingly, academic improvement = financial improvement.
These are the cases that really bother me. Lack of consumer credit education. Visa and Mastercard set up their little tables and hand out T-shirts to all those that apply. Ugh! We all been through it. By the time I was 19 I had 10 CCs and was $5K in debt. I did pay it off (making min. payments monthly for the entire 1st year). And then I took out an unsecured loan through my bank and consolidated them. It took me another 24 months to pay that off. But, by then I had built up a pretty good credit report through installment loans and closed credit cards. I just wish the schools focused on more basic banking and finance, then trig and geometry. Dani
1. Underemployed - no debt 2. Went back to school to better myself = lots of student loan debt 3. Earn degree, started my own business, recession came along, got behind in taxes. 4. Hid my head in the sand. 5. Found Credinet.
1. Student Credit cards: Three cards and NO job 2. Living above my means: buying friends beers and lots of pizza 3. Graduated College and virtually ingored the fact that I had bills to be paid off .. DENIAL DENIAL 4. Bought a 8000 car with 29% apr...:couldn't handle it... Jeez I was sure young and dumb
CC from ATT Universal Card Services when I was in college. Ruined my credit, but I got a kickass free t-shirt!
That is sooo true! I think its funny that I made the dean's list for the first time ever right after my credit score jumped 30 points. Hmmmmm......... -me- TU 609 7/9 EQ 601 7/9 EX ???
My credit nosedived when IC Systems listed a paid collection on my reports that was not mine. I did not know what to do to get it off. It screwed me up for a long time until I found this board and got them to correct their mistake. My score is still relatively low (681) because I lived on my credit cards for a couple years after two serious illnesses. I am still digging my way out of that hole, but have always paid on time and never defaulted.
Lady that was my finace at the time(now wife) wanted to move cross country and be with me. Her parents due to the kids took offense to it and got ex to sue for custody, spent everything I had to defend. Married now 5 years, I moved to be with her to stop the suit. The rest is credit history hell.
