24 Looking to build Credit... What are some good tips on your first Credit Card

[Ube]

Whats the best way to repair my credit? My credit history is

-had a Cap1 card went to collections,
-currently have a discover card have a large balance on it but I have the money to pay for it,
-I have 2 student loans from Sallie Mae and a govt loan both have not been paid in a long time, too scared to talk to them
-maybe 3 to 5 medical bills owed but I believe they went to collections.

I have had a tought time financially due to family situations and also me being young and dumb. I take the blame and so I would like to fix and get my credit score back to good standing. My NT brethren what can you guys recommend for me to do?

 

[polosanddunks]

Lexington Law.. They will remove it.

Thats actually who I am using.

@Kix28 you should holla at them too

@BeezyGotSole nobody got time for that . Rather just pay someone to handle it

 

[Hank Scorpio]

Is the Discover Student card easy to get? Im new to this credit thing and only have a Kohls Charge card but want something to use everywhere else

Want to know why they call it a Discover card? Because you have to discover places that accept it

Not every place will take Discover. The reason for this is because their terminal is different from the Visa/Mastercard and Amex terminals. Also the fee structures are different as well. Most places would rather take Visa/Mastercard and Amex than Discover just to avoid the fees and hassle. In some cases, business don't even take Amex because of the high fees.

I'm not so sure about the fee structure, but I think Visa/Mastercard takes 1-2% of the charge and Amex takes around 3-4%. Someome please correct me if I'm wrong.

Whats the best way to repair my credit? My credit history is

-had a Cap1 card went to collections,
-currently have a discover card have a large balance on it but I have the money to pay for it,
-I have 2 student loans from Sallie Mae and a govt loan both have not been paid in a long time, too scared to talk to them
-maybe 3 to 5 medical bills owed but I believe they went to collections.

I have had a tought time financially due to family situations and also me being young and dumb. I take the blame and so I would like to fix and get my credit score back to good standing. My NT brethren what can you guys recommend for me to do?

The first thing I would do if I were you is to find out how much you owe on the student and gov't loans. Creditors will forgive most loans, but they will never forgive student loans.

Pay off the Discover card balance in full and get that out of the way. This is a good idea, because you'll now have 1 less thing to worry about. How much do you owe Capital One?

The 3 or 5 medical bills should be taken care of last, because usually after a certain amount of time the gov't pays the bill or it disappears. This is what I heard from someone who's a medical biller, but I'm not so sure if this still happens.

Right now it may feel like you're in a deep hole, but your situation is manageable. You won't be able to repair your credit and get a 700 credit score in 6 months, but if you stay on top of it and stick to a plan, you'll be on your way to that 750 score in no time. Stay positive and always make your payments (not just the min. due).

 

[willie mcfly22]

I need to start chipping at my student loans. I'm currently in a "low income" repayment plan which means I don't have it to pay it every month due to what I actually report to the Feds...but that interest it's accuring is getting ugly...

 

[capital sb]

Thats actually who I am using.

@Kix28 you should holla at them too

@BeezyGotSole nobody got time for that

. Rather just pay someone to handle it

How much are they charging?

The GW letter is literally something that you copy and paste, print out sign it and then mail to the collections agency.

 

[nawghtyhare]

Thats actually who I am using.


@Kix28 you should holla at them too


@BeezyGotSole nobody got time for that . Rather just pay someone to handle it

How much are they charging?

The GW letter is literally something that you copy and paste, print out sign it and then mail to the collections agency.

Where can I copy/paste it from???
Do I send it in with a copy of my credit report also???

 

[capital sb]

Where can I copy/paste it from???

Do I send it in with a copy of my credit report also???

Here are a few threads on MyFico. You can look through the thread for more information. You can also google "goodwill sample letter" . You have to modify the letter a bit to fit your circumstances. 

Overview ,examples, and success stories of GW letter : http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Reb...-Examples-and-GW-Success-Stories/td-p/1573680

More examples of GW letters : http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/General-Credit-Topics/GW-Example-Letters/td-p/4521

 

[murkn3m]

Heads up for anyone thinking of applying for the chase freedom card they're have a promo get 200 back if you spend 500 over the next 3 months.

 

[harlemtothebronx]

I've got probably three inquiries on my report right now. I want to apply for Chase Freedom, though. Should I?

 

[Hank Scorpio]

I've got probably three inquiries on my report right now. I want to apply for Chase Freedom, though. Should I?

What's your score? And how many cards do you have?

If you don't get approved, call the reconsideration line (888-245-0625 (personal credit analyst, 7am-10pm EST M-F; 8am-10pm EST Sat. and 9am-9pm Sun.). Or better yet, go to a Chase branch and they'll do all that for you. They have an incentive for you to get approved, because they get a commission for approved applications.

 

[crcballer55]

Whats the best way to repair my credit? My credit history is

-had a Cap1 card went to collections,
-currently have a discover card have a large balance on it but I have the money to pay for it,
-I have 2 student loans from Sallie Mae and a govt loan both have not been paid in a long time, too scared to talk to them
-maybe 3 to 5 medical bills owed but I believe they went to collections.

I have had a tought time financially due to family situations and also me being young and dumb. I take the blame and so I would like to fix and get my credit score back to good standing. My NT brethren what can you guys recommend for me to do?

Line up your bills smallest to largest. Then start knocking out the small ones as fast as possible while paying the minimum on the rest. After the first is gone, use what you were paying on that one to start chipping away at the next one and so on.

If you have bills in collections, find out how much they will accept (in writing) typically you can negotiate 10-30% of the bill depending on how late it is.

 

[harlemtothebronx]

I've got probably three inquiries on my report right now. I want to apply for Chase Freedom, though. Should I?

What's your score? And how many cards do you have?

If you don't get approved, call the reconsideration line (888-245-0625 (personal credit analyst, 7am-10pm EST M-F; 8am-10pm EST Sat. and 9am-9pm Sun.). Or better yet, go to a Chase branch and they'll do all that for you. They have an incentive for you to get approved, because they get a commission for approved applications.

I think I'm at about 675 right now.

I get the feeling I probably wouldn't be approved.

I'll keep that reconsideration line in mind, though. Didn't know about that.

 

[dam itz lou]

Got approved for the chase freedom card.

 

[murkn3m]

Got approved for the chase freedom card.

Did you get that promo as well?

 

[dakid23]

All my Amex heads

I put down all 3 of my cards

https://www.americanexpress.com/us/small-business/shop-small/

ON NOV 29, SPEND $10+, GET $10 BACK. UP TO 3X.

 

[delete1234]

so you should only use 10% of your credit limit?

 

[johnnyredstorm]

so you should only use 10% of your credit limit?

use what you could afford to pay off.

 

[delete1234]

use what you could afford to pay off.

i mean thats the only thing that makes sense to me lol. i would never buy some stuff i couldn't pay off in the allotted time frame without accumulating interest.

i just keep hearing that you should keep your balance at like 10% of the credit limit.

$500 limit ---> $50 balance
$1000 limit ----> $100 balance

etc

 

[capital sb]

so you should only use 10% of your credit limit?

10% of your total utilization is the rule of thumb for best credit scores.

 

[Hank Scorpio]

10% of your total utilization is the rule of thumb for best credit scores.

I think 10% is too low to be honest. I always use 20-30%. Again, this goes back to buying within your means though.

Line up your bills smallest to largest. Then start knocking out the small ones as fast as possible while paying the minimum on the rest. After the first is gone, use what you were paying on that one to start chipping away at the next one and so on.

If you have bills in collections, find out how much they will accept (in writing) typically you can negotiate 10-30% of the bill depending on how late it is.

This is good advice, but I would add one thing to this.

Although is it a good idea to pay off the smaller bills, you also have to consider paying off the account with the highest APR first. It makes sense to pay the minimum on an account with a really high APR. The interest at the end will be too overwhelming. Although, it this is based on by case basis.

 

[willie mcfly22]

Isn't it 10% total of ALL lines of credit, 30% for each line of credit?

 

[capital sb]

Isn't it 10% total of ALL lines of credit, 30% for each line of credit?

Yes

 

[dam itz lou]

Yup.

Did you get that promo as well?

Yup. I've been waiting on a deal like this to apply for this card.

I had to call the reconsideration line twice because I have alot of new open accounts from applying to a bunch of cards for their bonuses within the last year. The first guy seemed to go through my credit history too quick and declined. I told him he could even lower my limit on my sapphire so it would be the same amount of credit and he still told me no. The second person I spoke to seemed to take a good long look at my history. He asked me a couple of questions about my spending,put me on hold, and then got approved.

No more cards for me unless the bonus is HUGE.

 

[delete1234]

Yes

Cool so that's 30% on each individual card?

 

[Gill Baka Esq. LLC.]

Brahs. I'm looking to build my credit as well. I believe my credit score is around 650. Not the best but that's why i want to build it. I just recently got a bank of america cash rewards card which is nice because there's no annual fee, they gave me $100 when I spent $300, and I already have an account with them so I get 10% extra when depositing my rewards into my account.

I want to apply for the Chase Freedom card for that deal. Would it be better to go to the branch itself and ask someone to help me get it?

I actually have an account there under my dad's name....like a beneficiary I think?

I don't have a debit card or anything like that because he put me on it in case anything ever happened to him, and I never take money out of it...because it's not my money.

He does have a hefty amount in there, so my question is if this could help me get the freedom card? By having an existing account with them.

Thanks brahs.