First of all, I just wanted to introduce myself. I just registered, but have been faithfully reading and printing for months. My name is Trish, I am 29, found the site from a link that was provided by someone on a freebie board. I finally took the plunge yesterday and got all 3 reports, paid for TU and EQ, joined CE for my EXP. I have about 6 negs, they are all small and 2-4 years old, I think I can handle these. I dont have a lot of inq, a lot less that I thought actually. Here's what I have going for me: 2 secured credit cards, both teeny tiny cls, both are near limit, but will be paid off completely within the next month, no lates on either of these. The downside is they are relatively new, less than 8 months old. Car loan, not reporting on EQ, that sucks~ one month payment history on the other 2. (just bought the car) So here's my question, with scores in the 530's, besides getting the negs removed, what is the best thing for me to do to get my score up? Would it help me to get another secured card or two? I hesitate to do this because of the fees involved, but I will if it will help me. I am fairly confident that I can get most if not all of my negs removed, one is out of business, etc. I even have a neg from Long John Silvers for $30, I have fast food on my credit report! LOL I have learned enuogh here that I know how to tackle them, based on if it is OC, CA, etc. but I really do need some more positive. Any ideas? TIA for any advie you might have.
Do you have a friend or family member that would consider adding you as an Authorized User (they don't even have to give you a card!) to one of their long term, excellent history, cc accounts?
Sounds like most of your problem has to do with such a limited credit history. That is affecting your score much more than the few negatives. jlynn has an excellent point.....when in need, inherit your way to good credit! Just remember, you may also be at risk of inheriting bad credit. So be careful. SnakeMan
Paying down those small credit cards will help a lot, I think. Utilization is a killer! Anything over 30%, you take a hit; then at 50%, you take a bigger hit, and so on...
My family's credit is worse than mine, bad credit habits taught early got me where I am today. Unfortunately, AU is not an option for me.
Jylnn, So what you are saying is the friend or family member is risk free if they do not give the AU user a card or access to the CC number? In desperate and foolish times, couldn't the CC# number be retrieved from the AUs Equifax CR? Are the rules all the same for each card company? For example; maybe some CC companys send the AU a card automatically. I would hate to put a friend at risk because of my problems.
Trish, You could also consider the threads on Credit Unions and secured loans being reported as unsecured on the CRs. It entails securing a thousand dollars for 6 months. Then turning around and taking out a loan on that amount, and so forth. There is a whole art to it that I am not familiar enough to describe to you but I think is worth looking into based on the many positive results that I saw posted a while back.
