Please vote, what should I do

I'd say #3 -- for sure.

 

#3

 

Obviously by the looks of your scores, your credit is in need of some help. I would do either 1 or 2. Putting the money in the bank is not going to do anything immediately for your credit. Just my opinion....

 

Some things are more important than credit. If the question presupposes that you have NO money set aside for emergencies, then I still think the best thing to do is to put money away whenever you can.

If you already have some cash set aside and your sole goal is to spend this money towards improving your credit, then I think putting the cash towards another secured card is the best route. Even if later you want to pay some collection accounts to try to negotiate removal, you can let the collector charge your new secured credit card account.

But really, if there's nothing in the bank and something were to happen where you couldn't pay your bills for a few months having more credit cards to pay on is not the answer.

 

I agree with you Dave about the saving money thing. I just neglected to mention that because I figured that base was already coverd (meaning there was already some emergency money in the bank). Bad assumption on my part. I figured that people post on this board because they are in search of way to improve their credit and they are hopefully passed the saving money part.

 

MP$40, the sad thing is that too many people depend upon their credit cards AS the emergency fund.

Q&A:

Q -- "So why do you need $25,000 in lines of credit when your income is only $38,000 per year?"
A -- "Oh, I don't plan to actually use that. I have it only in case of an emergency!"

The only thing worse than having an emergency is having an emergency followed by a financial emergency the next month when it comes time to make unaffordable payments.

So, yeah, I'm with you guys -- save an emergency fund first!

Doc

 

#3.

Paying a collection won't help your credit. They may not verify it to the CRA next time you dispute it after payment is received, but there are better ways to get a collection off your report.

Getting another secured card, especially if you already have 2-3 of those, won't help your credit either. One common mistake many newbies make is get many low-limit revolving tradelines, thinking this would help them, whereas this would only backfire. An excessive # of revolving trades is a common reason for denial even for people w/ good credit.


Saar

 

#3.... the rest will come with time. Don't expect a 100 point jump in your score in December, but if you listen to the wonderful free advice given here, maintain good tradelines with your current accounts (including asking for increases) and not apply for anything new for about 6 months, you'll be in much better shape.... It takes all the effort to get the bolder moving... once it's rolling it's much easier.