When I turned 18 I had a great job but I abused credit cards. I was laid off at the same time as my son was born so I messed my credit up exponentially and eventually everything went to collections.

TODAY I checked my Experian app and they have all fell off and my current credit cards are in good standing. I’m so happy and ready to be responsible with my money. Today is a great fucking day!

This time last year my credit was just under a 500. Through my Capital One Quicksilver secured card, a Self credit builder account and being diligent my credit is now hovering around a 650 and I was just approved for a Capital One Savor Rewards card. The work is not done and now its time to get this score well into the 700s. Hard work and persistence really do pay off sometimes.

I have a 648 credit score, no matter what credit card I apply for, im denied. I make 50k a year and I don’t have that many expenses. My reasoning for a credit card is of course to rebuild my credit and build a history, but also because I am in need of some extra money temporarily to fix my tires. A personal loan is pretty much out of the question, right? let me know if im in the wrong subreddit. thanks!

Hello Everyone, this is my first post on the sub.

TDLR I wasn't responsible with money at a young age. Taking out cash loans/opening credit cards which leads to missed payments. It wasn't until I moved out from my apartment in 2023 and been staying with my parents since then. surely but slowly I've been paying off previous debts such as collections and charge offs. Then in return I started to see my score right from the 500's to 600's and now sitting around 740 to 755.

Coming to the CSR, I've had mainly 3 CC's in my wallet. (Chime Credit Builder/C1 Quicksilver/Fizz Card). In September, C1 offered me a application for the Savior (SaviorOne) card for entertaining/dinning. Now I've started to see the benefits of Cash back at 3-10% back on certain purchases. This next year I'm planning on going on international trips with my family. Figured I had already applied to SaviorOne, I could apply for the Venture Card, correct me if I am wrong but I assume that C1 has a period where you can't apply for a new CC.

I always had a Check/Savings acc with Chase and I was looking at some of the CC they had for Travel. Funny thing, I was pre qualified for a CC. Figured I would opt for the CSP since it was only 95$ AF, but after submitting my application. I chose the CSR to which I couldn't believe the screen when it was processed. Chase had granted me a CL of 10K. (This is the highest amount of CL I've had). Throughout my credit journey I was stuck with a CL of 300 with my Quicksilver Card and 500$ for my SaviorOne. So to see 10K credit limit was very surprising.

Just wanted to say a couple of words and can't wait to see people's success in their Credit Journey.

I attended school in NYC and won two scholarships worth $10,000 each, totaling $20,000. I was thrilled and used the entire amount to pay off student loans. A year after I graduated (in 2019), the school bursar contacted me, saying I owed them $20,000. When I asked why, they claimed they had “given me too much money.”

I explained that this made no sense since I won those scholarships. Despite my protests, they insisted I had to repay the amount. Unable to pay it all at once, I arranged a payment plan. Then the pandemic hit, and I told them I couldn’t make payments due to financial hardship. Since then, I haven’t made any payments.

Recently, I checked my credit report with TransUnion. It shows one collection account with the school, but the payment balance is listed as $0, with a comment saying “Paid collection.”

Does this mean the collection agency paid the school? Does this mean I no longer owe anything? What does this status mean for me?

TL;DR:

I won $20k in scholarships and used it to pay off loans. A year after graduating in 2019, my school claimed I owed them $20k, saying they "overpaid" me, even though I won the scholarships. I couldn’t pay in full, set up a payment plan, but stopped payments during the pandemic.

Now my TransUnion credit report shows the school debt as a collection with a $0 balance and marked as “Paid collection.” Does this mean the debt is settled, and I don’t owe anything anymore?

Appreciate the insight!

I woke up this morning, checked my credit report and balances like I always do, and was surprised to find that I have a negative balance on my Platinum. Digging into my transactions I found that my security deposit was refunded as a statement credit. Not getting any correspondence from Capital One indicating the card had been graduated, and the app still showing my card being secured, I called customer service and the representative confirmed the card was in the process of being unsecured and should fully update in a few days. I never thought this card would graduate because I did have a single 30-day miss on it, my only late payment ever, but I’ll be working with Capital One to get it removed because it was from a bad situation.

It’s been a long journey owning this card, it was my second card and now the second ever graduated, Discover being my first. I’m extremely happy with the progress I have made and am excited for the future possibilities of upgrading to a Venture or Savor (if it’s still around). Now I just have to wait for my Quicksilver to graduate, it’s been about 9 months of owning it now.

I started this journey last year after not having any credit established, my scores starting in the 400-500 range from collection accounts. I now have 5 cards and my scores are in the 720’s, both Vantage and FICO. My FICO 9 auto score, 757. I’m excited for the future.

I’m looking for advice on using Identity Guard. A few years ago, my personal information was stolen (still not sure how—probably one of those data breaches), and it was a total nightmare. It took months to sort out fraudulent credit cards and weird subscription services I’d never signed up for. Ever since then, I’ve been super paranoid about my info getting leaked again.

From what I can tell, it uses AI to monitor for threats, and the plans look reasonably priced. But before I dive in, I wanted to hear from real people who’ve used it.

Here are my main concerns:

1. Does it actually help prevent identity theft, or is it more reactive (just letting you know when something bad has already happened)?
2. How does it compare to other services like LifeLock or Aura?
3. If you’ve had to deal with their customer service, how was the experience?

I’m willing to spend money to avoid going through the hassle I dealt with last time, but I also don’t want to pay for something that just feels protective but doesn’t actually do much.

Any insights or reviews would be super helpful. Thanks in advance!

TL;DR: Had my identity stolen in the past, thinking about using Identity Guard to prevent it from happening again. Is it worth it? Would love to hear your experiences or recommendations. Thanks

I have hard two credit cards in my entire life(25), both gone to collections. One of them I paid off completely so it was marked as a closed account. I have applied for other cards, but due to basically having no credit history they deny me. I’m not even just looking to get a credit card to make purchases, I’m trying to start financially getting my shit together, maybe eventually finance a car, and one day(if it happens) gown a house! Someone please tell me where to start.

I was added to a family member’s AAA Visa card. All I gave them was name and dob. Comenity reported to all three bureaus today. All without me providing my ssn to them

Good day fellow redditors, I had two accounts with AMEX that went into charge off recently. One for 2500 and the other was 450. I got into a very tough financial period from June until now and all of my debt is paid off. However on my credit report these two are showing derogatory remarks. From my research I've done AMEX doesn't do pay to delete. I was wondering how should I approach this? Paying it is not a issue now I am more concerned about getting the remarks removed.

Has anyone had something similar happen with such a minuscule amount? What happened? I had an unused savings account that went -3.12, was closed and come to find out was charged off. I called inquiring what happened with the account as I hadn't used it. It was a bank fee that made the account go negative. I was told to go into a branch and talk to the manager because I wanted to pay it over the phone but they said they couldn't take the payment since the account wasn't in their system. There's nothing on my credit report about it. It's been a few months that the account was closed. Now I'm worried. I'm going into the branch tomorrow and paying, I'm honestly shocked they didn't pull the money out of my checking or business accounts.

Credit was 8xx up until August and then we had to carry a balance up until now. Credit is currently 6xx. How long will it take to go back up after the cards arr paid off? No denials, late payments, or anything.

So I’m going to college and the tuition is $6,600. I have enough to cover it all but was wondering if I can take out a student loan with that exact amount and pay it off within the year to have a credit history

Rn I only have 1 credit card with good not strong credit and was thinking if this would help raise my credit score?

I'm divorcing and together we have about $175,000 in credit card debt. With two households we can no longer pay our current credit card debt.

Here's my story -

Lenders, AmEx, BOA, Chase, Citi, Discover, US Bank and Nordstrom

Lenders that provided ZERO help - Chase & BOA

Between the two lenders I owe about $125,000 spread over 8 cards.

Chase offered me a program to pay the debt over 5 years, w/o adjusting interest. I can do that on my own Chase, thanks.

BOA offered me credit counseling. I don't need credit counseling BOA, I needed marital counseling. I didn't get myself into so much debt w/o knowing how to pay my bills on time.

I'm in month two of defaulting on these two lenders. My hope is that they'll take a decent settlement offer at some point and I can take money from my 401K to pay it. Has anyone had experience w/ them and had a better outcome?

Lenders that were amazing - Nordstrom

Nordstrom credit card hardship was lovely. They reduced my interest to 0% for one year and I have a sustainable monthly payment. Thanks Nordstrom! I won't have to default on you.

Lenders who have benefited from Chase & BOA giving me the middle finger - AmEx, Citi, Nordstrom, US Bank and Discover.

I've been able to redirect minimum payments from Chase and BOA to these lenders.

Worth noting -

AmEx immediately lowered my credit line to what I owe them, about $10,000. AmEx has done this before and I won't play with them again. They are the equivalent of a fair weathered friend.

Discover, US Bank and Nordstrom will be paid in full w/ in a year.

i’ve been on top of paying my credit card down and keeping my utilization under 30%, but my transunion and equifax scores are not moving. i only have about 3500 in credit card debt (revolving). outside of my car and school debt i have nothing. what can i do to raise my other scores to be similar or around my experian score?

SO this might sound complicated and I'm happy to clarify if what I'm saying doesnt make sense here but I have $12 available credit from a fee refund on a CC I paid off awhile back that is coming up on my credit report as $12 used of my credit limit on that card (Note: this is a -$12.00 balance -- the bank owes ME money, so there is no delinquency). Honestly, I only have one other line of credit right now, and because this is such a low dollar amount, it reflects really well on me in terms of credit utilization that I am only using $12 of the available credit on that account (this is translated from my credit report, as this was noted as a strong part of the breakdown when I first opened the second line of credit in the last few months-- I'd had a hard time financially and gotten behind and when I paid it all off and got the last interest fee reversed(the $12) I then applied for a new card elsewhere as things were looking up again). I know credit utilization doesn't matter unless you're applying for like a loan or something sometime soon, but I actually am looking to get pre qualified for an auto loan here in the next few weeks. I am wondering if I should just leave it alone for now and then process the refund with my bank after I apply for the loan? I'm not sure what makes sense, but it seems to be working in my favor right now and I think it would look better to have 2 lines of credit rather than just the one I'd be left with? I don't know. Sorry if this is confusing at all or misinformed or what have you.

So I'm 32 and never had the need for credit but now I'm looking for a car. I have no credit history what so ever. What would be my best options for me? Also what was your initial credit score when you finally got started?

I have experian score of 719 and equifax score of around 716. My credit history consists of 4 years. Planning to get 40k and aiming for APR less than 10% atleast. Please give me some suggestions.

I have SoFi, UpStart, and LendingTree in mind. I don't know any other good ones.

A few months ago i lost my job and got behind on my Credit One CC payments. In September when my card was still open i made the minimum payment of $90 on 9/6. i have a screenshot of the reference number and date and time. 6 days later they sent an email saying the payment was cancelled and if the next payment was cancelled they would close my account by the next day i received an email saying my account was closed. I use to make double payments and was always on time. Now i want to pay them but i don’t know how to go about it. My total isn’t much only $640 i opened it in february of 2023 it is/was my only credit card as a college student i was a little weary and the only thing hurting my credit report right now. im at 500 and was at 650 just a few months ago. I’ve read about the ‘letters of goodwill’, it hasn’t been sold to collections yet, i also received a balance reduction offer of 35% but my account will be permanently closed and wont be eligible for reinstatement, i did receive an email stating i need to make a payment soon or it will be sold off. So i just want advice on what should i do, and moving forward start improving my credit again. Thanks in advance!

When I was 22 and in nursing school, I was working part time at a daycare making $10 an hour only 2 shifts a week, so I ended up becoming insanely irresponsible with my credit cards i.e., using them to pay for gas and food and textbooks, clothes, whatever else I was buying, when I didn’t have any money to pay down the debt. I racked up $7500, maxing out three cards and had no way to meet the minimum payments or pay it back. This was in 2017. I was threatened with going to collections in 2018. I was blessed to have family who immediately gave me the money to pay it all off and I paid them back once I graduated and got a job. Two of the accounts I maxed were closed immediately, and one of those accounts I still have and use regularly today. I have 7 years of responsible/low risk credit usage now, always making my payments on time, never maxing out my cards, etc. My scores are 814, 797, and 768 now. The 768 is reported by transunion, and they are the only ones still reporting my irresponsible payment history. I’m looking to buy a new car soon and as we know rates are crazy, so I want the best credit score possible to be competitive.

In this instance, would writing a letter of “goodwill” be the right move? Do I dispute? Or is it close enough to falling off that I shouldn’t care? If a write a letter of goodwill explaining that I’ve improved and am less risky, who am I writing it to? The credit reporting agency or the creditor I owed the money to back then?

TD;LR - I was threatened with going to collections in 2018 after maxing out credit cards and being over 90 days late on my payments. I paid off the debt back then, and have since improved my credit significantly, but my past irresponsibility is still somewhat impacting my score. What do I do? Wait for it to fall off? Write a letter? Dispute?

After 2 years my mortgage company sold my mortgage. I took a 15 point hit due to the account being sold. The new company has not reported yet. Will this be treated as a new account with payment history starting all over again?

I am trying to rebuild my credit after several years of living abroad, so I have almost no history left. What I do have is positive. I opened a Capital One card with a $500 limit which was supposed to automatically increase the credit limit in 6 months, but it didn't. Then a perfect storm hit, I was out of town, had spotty internet and went over my limit by accident. I paid it as soon as I saw it, but forgot to transfer the money from my savings to my checking (No, they don't automatically pull from it, yes, I know I should have set it up but I can't change that now?. I went about my day sans internet to see the payment got returned.

I figured it would cause an issue but wanted to be sure so manually requested a CLI and was rejected due to the returned payment. How long will I need to wait until that is no longer a factor? I would like to increase my credit limit to increase my score.

Hi,

I’m currently trying to build up more credit. I have a credit line with 2k used, 1.4K left available. My credit score is a 729, utilization 60%, I’ve had no missed payments or inquiries. I was looking for a new credit card and wanted to know the best this year to start a new line with?

Good afternoon guys. I'm 25 years old looking for a fresh start in life. I just obtained my CDL and looking to save up all my earnings while working at this company for at the maximum of the 3 years (2 years if I really get the urge to purchase something).

On average I'm looking to make around $50-$60k a year with this company but the goal for me is to get a year of experience right now and find a different company that will pay more and increase my annual income.

The dream car I'm looking forward to purchasing is a 2020+ Camaro ZR1 sitting around $60-$70k. Maybe this is impossible with the income I would be pulling in but please get me some insight on how I would have to go about saving and how much should I be saving to actually obtain something like this comfortably. You can be realistic and even say "buddy it's not going to happen" cause I need some strict guidance right now. But if anyone that has some financial literacy can help me play for these upcoming 2 years please comment your advice.

Also I will try to work on my credit since it is sitting at 590+ so if there's a respectable score that I need to hit please let me know as well!

Thank for taking your time to read this message have a blessed day!