bluevalentine

bump?

Going to add another side to this. I'm self employed and on average, have been making about 2500 a month. decent living for my area. This month, it looks like my income is jumping up. not sure for how long but its 3 times more than what I have been making in a month. And I started talking to my friends about it. A LOT. But why? Because I was seriously FREAKED OUT. They say that even good stress like new jobs and weddings and raises can be very stressful. I didn't believe it until now. Constant feeling of anxiety while I was working. Afraid that something would backfire, etc. So the OPs friend might still be in that "OH GEEZ! FREAK OUT!" stage and may be handling it in a way that could come off as bragging. Doesn't mean that the OP shouldn't tell her friend that she is uncomfortable with all the money talk but its just something to think about.

thats what i was wondering. I DON'T believe orchard is one that is known to unsecure. at least not what I've found on here or see on their website. I'm just trying to get something that shows as a positive TL so I can get something unsecured to continue to build. I'd rather not up the balance til I feel I have to as having it in there is pretty much just a no interest savings account. I'd rather keep my money in my 3.05% savings for as long as possible, but if having a larger CL for a longer period of time than a smaller one (in terms of FICO scores, or how mortgage lenders look at your credit) is better than I'll do it. When I increase my limit, does it actually show on my credit report the dates of CLI? I dont think it does but I thought I'd ask around. It shouldnt really matter for me as I'd never be using more than say 5-10% of my CL. Using it only to show some activity instead of using it because I really need to. This is purely a credit building too and I still plan on living a cash lifestyle oh, all of them are with CA's. I WISH they were with OC's But thats for another thread. Just mostly concerned with how to make a secured card most effective on ones credit report / fico scores without leaving non-interest earning money in there for longer than I have to.

i dont think orchard is one of the ones that makes it unsecured, at least not with allowing you to keep your acct age. and yeah, i have no intention of keeping any balance on it, except occational small purchases to show im actually using and PIF.

so one of the things I'm doing to help get my credit back on track over the next 12 months is secured cards (just got approved for an Orchard) since I can't get approved for anything else (I know. I tried) I'm looking to buy a house in a year. Since I can raise my limit on my secured cards at any time, is there a benefit to raising it sooner rather than later? Is having, say, a 500 limit for 10 months and 1000 for the last 2 any different than having 500 for 2 months and 1000 for the last 10? I have no open credit accounts, just a bunch of chargeoffs that im working on getting deleted and a few closed accounts from several years ago (that were positive) so having a higher limit to lower my % of utilization doesnt really go into play here because right now I have 0 available credit. So, ideas, theories, experiences with how to make secured cards work best would be awesome

well mine finally updated today. $300. filed via turbo tax with my fees deducted. my SSN ends in 36 just like the person who posted a few above me. says it will be mailed june 6

so im looking to get a secured card to help rebuild my credit. After reading several threads here, I think I'm going to go with Orchard. So I have what is probably a dumb question as I've never dealt with a secured card before. I can deposit money into my secured card so it shows a higer CL, right? Even after the card has been opened for a while? For those that have an Orchard Secured Card, if youve been able to do this, is it pretty painless? Can it be done online?

so would it be a better option to wait til I have 2 years of good income to keep that average high? I figure if im waiting 15 months to start this, I can wait an extra 4 or 5.

so even if i have just one full year tax returns as being self employed? While i started working for myself in july of last year, most of that time was spent getting everything started and living off savings and I made diddly off my self employment income until the end of the year. Do you think the 1 year of good self employment income plus the deposits from jan 09-sept of 09 (which is when ill start looking) that show in my bank statements will be enough? or will I have to wait til i have 2 years tax returns showing good self employment income? I may have to call ya once I start looking for a loan next year

I'm not looking to buy for another 15 months or so but I'm trying to get all my ducks in a row now. my plan is to move closer to my father in San Antonio, and purchase a property that needs some fixing up (hopefully something that would qualify for 203k) I am working on getting all my credit in order and according to all the simulators, by the time I'm ready to buy, my score should be around 640-675. I am self employed. Started working for myself almost a year ago so by the time I'm ready to buy, i'll have been self employed for over 2 years. I am on track to make about 33k this year. I have no car payment and live in a condo I paid cash for about 4 years ago so my only housing costs are HOA and property taxes (about $275 month). I wont be selling my condo until after the house in San Antonio is ready for me to move in so I'll have a 55k asset to show for it once I start looking for a loan. Once my debt is all paid off in the next 6 months or so, I'll be paying for nothing other than regular monthly bills and paying into savings so I should be able to save quite a bit by the time I'm ready to buy. Only thing I'm worried about is that the industry I work in is far from traditional. I'm paid through daily or weekly direct deposits through the service I use to run my business. I'll have 1 year of tax returns where I worked for myself for the whole year by the time I'm ready to buy. I can show bank statements showing the deposits but will have no 1099 or anything. How much of a problem is it? How much explaining will I have to do about how my money is made?

does it make a difference if im just sending DV to those that are on my report? There are several accounts that I don't get letters for or theyve stopped sending letters or their skip trace dept hasnt found my new address or whatever.

ok, that was my thinking too. so my first thought of DVing things i know i could PIF if push came to shove would be what you would do? I have about 1200$ a month I have budgeted towards debt. Like I said, most of my collection accounts are anywhere between 400-800$ so I could easily PIF 2 or 3 a month. I'm just fearful of being sued and having my ammt due go up on these accounts so trying to go with the least risky option that will, obviously, help me out the most in the long run nothing like quoting your own post lol so after a bit more reading, I'm thinking that I can DV what i know I can PIF in case they try to sue. If they are able to validate, then try to get a PFD. If a PFD doesn't work, to work out an arrangement and then try to get it deleted again after its paid? Just trying to figure out if this makes sense to those who know more about this stuff than I do

ok, that was my thinking too. so my first thought of DVing things i know i could PIF if push came to shove would be what you would do? I have about 1200$ a month I have budgeted towards debt. Like I said, most of my collection accounts are anywhere between 400-800$ so I could easily PIF 2 or 3 a month. I'm just fearful of being sued and having my ammt due go up on these accounts so trying to go with the least risky option that will, obviously, help me out the most in the long run

yeah, i figured that the "date open" with the CA had nothing to do with DOLA and since i'm having such a hard time figuring out whats what in terms of what account is associated with each of those, im clueless as to DOLA but im pretty confident they're all within 4 years old. So would a smart plan of action be to try and DV (as I really WOULD like to have clear and correct records for my files of dates accounts were opened, date they went into default, and so on) only things I know I could PIF? Most of my accounts are smaller ammounts (under 1,000) right now. Or would it just be better to try and contact them, and hopefully see if they'll PIF for delete or some other sort of deal without validating?

also, i should say that i know that most of these are showing "date opened" as the date the debt was purchased (like an account with Midland Credit for an Aspen card that is showing a date opened of Nov 07 and i know that can't be right), which is part of what i want to clear up.