Improving your Credit and Credit Score

^^^^

great advice

and salute to everyone who shared their knowledge.

but sadly many people can't pay more then the minimum at times...

I try to tell people just NEVER pay late and if you CAN don't wait until the bill is due...

pay something in the middle of the month or pay a few dollars OVER the minimum.

BUDGET and live within your means.

Cut that cable bill or at least reduce the package

Share your Netflix or HBO Go with close family if you can.

Try not to eat out so much and if you do get a doggie bag and bring it for lunch the next day...

Pack your own lunch.

I have a few hundred automatically taken out my check and put into a separate account.

Call your credit card and ask for a lower apr or a credit limit increase.

You can call gas electric and cell phone companies and ask for an extension.

this thread is FILLED with simple and effective advice. should be a sticky in the business forum.
I absolutely agree with you about living beneath your means and I still practice that today. For that reason, I have paid off all my debt except for house mortgage. My wife and I make a good income but we live quite simply.
 
Thank you for your pearls of wisdom. You guys are all awesome.

I have a secure card for about 2 years now that I use on a monthly basis, and I just applied for a capital one credit card and got approved :dance:.

Thank you!
 
Thank you for your pearls of wisdom. You guys are all awesome.

I have a secure card for about 2 years now that I use on a monthly basis, and I just applied for a capital one credit card and got approved :dance:.

Thank you!
Nice. Now use it wisely. Use it as much as you can but make sure that you have a plan to pay it off at the end of every week.
 
When my credit score was at a 575 I applied for a secured credit card with Bank of America(1-2-3 cash rewards card), I put down a 500 deposit and used it to get gas and groceries and I would make payments weekly. I would always let a small balance between 50 to 25 dollars report monthly but would pay it off well before the due date. I get 3 percent cash back for gas and 2 percent on groceries, it adds up over a year. after 9 months they put my deposit back in my account and unsecured my card.

About a month after that I applied for a care credit card for a root canal at the dentist. They gave me 6 months to pay it off interest free.

About a month after I got a pre qualified card offer from capital one, It was a small 500 dollar limit. I used the card sparingly every month and when my 5th statement cut they gave me an automatic limit increase of 3000 dollars and they upgraded my card to the quicksilver cash back card. I used it to pay my utility bills and get about 25 dollars cash back monthly.

The whole time I was making sure to pay all my bills on time(car note, student loans)

To maximize your score when you want to put in an app(mortgage, car loan)let 2 of your credit cards report 0 dollars and 1 card report a 2 dollar balance, this will keep your DTI low and maximize your credit scores.

I had 2 bullshit medical collections on my report and I called the collection companies and negotiated a Pay For Delete which is you pay the debt and they send certified letters to delete the accounts off your reports. A collection will kill your credit score! Make sure you get the pay for delete agreement in writing before paying.

Another tip is to always let a small balance report from your credit cards(preferable less than 10 percent of the credit limit). If you let 0 dollars report then you will lose points on your score because the formula thinks that you are not using credit. I did the 0 dollars one month and my scores dropped from 10 to 15 points on each bureau.

In 9 months I raised all of my scores 100 points by doing all of the above. Now I get weekly credit card offers in the mail.

And remember that if the score doesn't say Fico then it doesn't count because all of the banks use fico scores when making credit decisions.
 
Well, we're you late or not?
If you were not late , then dispute it yourself through the credit agencies by submitting evidence to support your position. If they don't take it off , sue them.
I was late. I tried to call the bank to see if they could wave it, but they didn't offer much help. I'm wondering will it fall off. It's been almost 3years.
 
I was late. I tried to call the bank to see if they could wave it, but they didn't offer much help. I'm wondering will it fall off. It's been almost 3years.
Ok. It won't fall off for 7 years but if you keep paying all your bills, your credit will improve. Three years ago, my cousin refused to pay her discover card bill and they sued her, which I settled for her. Her score dropped to 520 e years ago but it's now up to 705 because she's paid everything consistently
 
I absolutely agree with you about living beneath your means and I still practice that today. For that reason, I have paid off all my debt except for house mortgage. My wife and I make a good income but we live quite simply.

thats how I would do it if I were married,

live simple, save money and vacation big

especially while your young enough to get around....
 
I absolutely agree with you about living beneath your means and I still practice that today. For that reason, I have paid off all my debt except for house mortgage. My wife and I make a good income but we live quite simply.

sounds like fun....
 
Great drops on this topic.....

Question do any of you listen to Dave Ramsey and believe in his financial philosophies? Like don't worry about your FICO score, etc?

Just curious
 
Is there a place I should start on this thread to get guidelines? I'd like to work on my credit.

It depends on how much work needs done on your credit. If it is late payments and high debt then just browse through this thread. There are a lot of post but it shouldn't take too long.

If you have judgments, bankruptcies, or other big discrepencies then I would suggest venturing over to creditboards.
 
It depends on how much work needs done on your credit. If it is late payments and high debt then just browse through this thread. There are a lot of post but it shouldn't take too long.

If you have judgments, bankruptcies, or other big discrepencies then I would suggest venturing over to creditboards.

Nothing big. I just have three or four things I'd like to get removed. For example, one is for sprint saying I owe $500 and I haven't had a sprint account since 97. Even then the bill was never nowhere near that amount. I saw it yesterday using CreditKarma. I just don't know where to start but I'll start reading this thread from the start.
 
Nothing big. I just have three or four things I'd like to get removed. For example, one is for sprint saying I owe $500 and I haven't had a sprint account since 97. Even then the bill was never nowhere near that amount. I saw it yesterday using CreditKarma. I just don't know where to start but I'll start reading this thread from the start.

Sprint may be doing activity to that accout to keep it active.

Quick tips for the Sprint charge:

1. Opt out
2. Remove all old addresses from your file. (unless you are in the same spot you were in 97)
3. Dispute charges.
4. DO NOT CONTACT SPRINT. All of this should be done through the credit bureaus.
5. Always remember... cleaning your credit takes time.
 
Look at post 252. I did all that sjit, now im real close to the 700 club:dance:
Good stuff man, I gotta get mine back right
Great drops on this topic.....

Question do any of you listen to Dave Ramsey and believe in his financial philosophies? Like don't worry about your FICO score, etc?

Just curious
I was for a lil bit, but bgol keeps pulling me back in.
I did find my CPA through his site. I think.... it was either Dave Ramsey or Clark Howard.

I need to start back listening to him.
 
Paying things off is way easier and quicker than trying to dispute. :hmm:
No hell it aint.

Who got money to waste? I disputed some shit, sent them letters off and just went about my business. 30 or 60 days later I got a letter stating that they took the shit off.

It ain't like your credit gon go up immediately once you pay shit off anyway, shit be crawling like Paul Wall.
 
Great drops on this topic.....

Question do any of you listen to Dave Ramsey and believe in his financial philosophies? Like don't worry about your FICO score, etc?

Just curious

Ramsey gives good advice but he has lost touch of what it is to not be a millionaire at times. His no credit score philosophy wont work for regular folks like you and me, getting a mortgage without a creidt score is no easy deed, it is possible with mortgage underwriting but with a good credit score the application process would be easier and give you a lot more options, also you might get hit with a premium when you apply for insurance or have to make a deposit just to sign up for a phone.

So other than his credit philosophy his baby steps are good advice.
 
Just got off the phone with Transunion and got them bitches to delete my last 2 negative accounts off my report 5 months early. They were a charge off and a collection that purchased the debt from the charge off. Spoke on the phone to a rep who said they couldn't do it, asked to speak to a supervisor and told him that I wanted to get early exclusion or dispute as obsolete, he put me on hold then got back on the phone and said he was deleting the accounts on the spot. Ima check my score tomm and see how many points I gain from those 2 negatives getting deleted.

In 2 months Im gonna call experian because they say they will delete 3 months early.

They say Equifax will only do 1 month early:hmm:

Transunion will delete 6 months early from the fall off date.
 
Nice. Glad you didn't do anything stupid like buy a BMW
Still nursing your gay dreams of getting close to me, uh:smh:

Great drops on this topic.....

Question do any of you listen to Dave Ramsey and believe in his financial philosophies? Like don't worry about your FICO score, etc?

Just curious
No, I just use my own head. You cannot be independently wealthy without a big break in your life, so while you're working hard towards that, you need good credit. There is nothing like getting a 2.75% mortgage when everybody is at 4%. You can also walk into a car dealer and control the finance negotiation etc.
 
Just got off the phone with Transunion and got them bitches to delete my last 2 negative accounts off my report 5 months early. They were a charge off and a collection that purchased the debt from the charge off. Spoke on the phone to a rep who said they couldn't do it, asked to speak to a supervisor and told him that I wanted to get early exclusion or dispute as obsolete, he put me on hold then got back on the phone and said he was deleting the accounts on the spot. Ima check my score tomm and see how many points I gain from those 2 negatives getting deleted.

In 2 months Im gonna call experian because they say they will delete 3 months early.

They say Equifax will only do 1 month early:hmm:

Transunion will delete 6 months early from the fall off date.

Check my Transunion report on myfico today and my score jumped 72 points:dance:

Once I get them accounts deleted off Experian and Equifax I will be over 740 for those 2 bureaus:dance:
 
Bumped mines up from a 570 to a 670 in 3 months by disputing charges and opening a credit card acct and paying with auto pay.

Now what's the procedure for a old att billed handed to a collection agency, it's 350$, was removed and popped back up by another agency. If I jus pay how do I make sure it's removed or shows payed as a positive and not a derogatory?
 
Bumped mines up from a 570 to a 670 in 3 months by disputing charges and opening a credit card acct and paying with auto pay.

Now what's the procedure for a old att billed handed to a collection agency, it's 350$, was removed and popped back up by another agency. If I jus pay how do I make sure it's removed or shows payed as a positive and not a derogatory?

Don't pay it unless the company agrees in writing to delete once you pay. Its called a pay for delete. Get a copy of all your credit reports and find the Day of First Delinquency for the collection account, that's when the 7 year clock starts.

If you pay it will stay as a negative account and still hurt your score, better off just letting that shit fall off. Look at my post above to see how to get accounts off early with the credit bureaus.

Also let a small credit card balance report monthly. I let 2 dollars report. when you let zero dollars report you lose points on your score.
 
Don't pay it unless the company agrees in writing to delete once you pay. Its called a pay for delete. Get a copy of all your credit reports and find the Day of First Delinquency for the collection account, that's when the 7 year clock starts.

If you pay it will stay as a negative account and still hurt your score, better off just letting that shit fall off. Look at my post above to see how to get accounts off early with the credit bureaus.

Also let a small credit card balance report monthly. I let 2 dollars report. when you let zero dollars report you lose points on your score.

Thanks. Will ask for that. Only thing they offered was a paid acct if I paid it.
 
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