I was fresh out of college. Not only was it a thin file, but I had 2 open accounts, 3 closed, 1 in good standing (my student loan my parents paid), 3 currently past due and 3 negative.
I couldn't get a credit card which meant I lived paycheck to paycheck and on cash only. I was denied a great apartment because of my credit. I couldn't get a car. And I lived in FEAR of the phone. Creditors were constantly calling me. They even called my parents, told them how much I owed and asked them to pay for me (my parents were like "no way, she got herself in this mess she can get out of it"). Sure it's bad to owe people money, and sure it's terrible to live in fear of your phone, but the worst part about bad credit is how it makes you feel about yoruself. I felt stressed, like a loser and it was depressing. I felt like I was unable to take care of myself and that makes for some low self esteem, which can affect other aspects of your life.
I finally started making a few changes in my life and one of them was my finances. I found a co-signor for a car, I paid off one charged off credit card and I agreed to make payments to another one at a cost of $200 a month for almost two years.
Things were getting better (low 600's for my score) but last July when my boyfriend talked to me about buying a home together I knew I was in trouble. He knew my credit was bad, thankfully I wasn't hiding it from him, but I could not accept that my credit may cost us thousands of dollars in interest and I vowed to do something about it. We agreed not to purchase until at least the end of the year which gave me six months to get my credit cleaned up. I returned to Creditboards which I had stopped at a year before but at the time was not motivated enough to clean my credit at the time.
This time I was motivated. This time I meant it. At first I just tried posting questions and expected people to help me and fix my problems for me. Then, after about four days of no real results I got down to business. I read the newbie section and I USED THE SEARCH FUNCTION. Do you know that 99% of the time the question you are about to post has really already been posted. No matter how unusual and different it is, it probably has occurred to someone else here before. (It took me a few months to figure out how badly I was repeating questions, and then I would get so upset when people wouldn't answer me.) What is a great resource here is not so much the ability to post questions at the forums, but the newbie section and the search function. The search function is by FAR the best feature of CreditBoard and IS THE REASON my credit is now clean.
I own my own car and it is now financed in my name only at a GREAT rate. I own my own condo (www.brittaniecrain.com/amber.htm) at prime rate. I have several store cards and a handful of major credit cards as well, including my first Amex which I was just approved for last week. I even applied for a Macy's store card and was automatically upgraded to the Macy's VISA for my great credit. All three major CRA FICO scores are in the 700s. I have ZERO negative accounts. Nothing charged off, not even a paid charged off account. I'm building age and my limits are increasing constantly. I did it all in about six months.
You can, too. BUT IT TAKES WORK. Believe me, it takes work. I made files, I sent letters, I sent more letters, I filed letters away, I sent more letters. I spent HOURS researching, drafting, proofing. . . And it costs money. I spent about $100 on postage to clean my reports. Though, I saved thousands with us able to get prime rate.
The best part? I feel good about myself. I'm keeping my credit clean and in check. My utilization is LOW. We're talking 1%. I pay off every month. That makes me feel good. But I feel even better that I fixed my past mistakes ON MY OWN. I did it, me. And my self esteem has never been better than it is right now.
I own a home. I got engaged two weeks ago. Work is great. My finances are wonderful. Life is GREAT!
Thanks CB!
Great story!!