Cleaning up Credit?

just pay it off.

i had credit cards up the wazoo and now i dont have any. if you can pay one off in full, do it. if you can only pay the min on one do it and try and pay more the next month

rach, i am not kidding when i tell you i had 10 credit cards. i had 3 amex cards, 2 mastercards, victorias secret, lerners, visa, mandees, and fashion bug.

i payed vs and lerners off in whole and everything else i just paid over time until they were paid off. it took me abot 2 years but i feel so much better that its done.

i am still paying off a MC and a visa but the others are long gone.

just pay them off is the best way and dont use them unless you really really have too

Consolidate your credit balances to a single card.

Cancel excess credit cards.

Pay off existing debt, and don't be late on payments.

Time is the only thing that can bring about significant improvements (unless there is an error on your credit reports!)

why don't you get your credit report...a full one costs about $30-40 and you can get your score...

paying off cards is the best options...and just make a committment now...you can even write an attachment to your credit report stating the reason why you paid the student loan late...(i.e. I didn't have a job yet, etc...)

I have access to all the credit bureau's at work. I pulled mine and my FH and it gave me a better understanding of where we were. I could get you one for free but you'd have to give me your ssn and I'm sure you don't want me to be all up in your business. Good luck and definitely get your report somehow.

i worked for american express. it is 7 years that something stays on your credit report. after 7 years a debt can be reinstated on your report for another 7 years but most of the time 99 out of 100 times after 7 years the debt realizes it isnt going to get paid and wont go back on your report.

as for student loans, just pay them. dont worry about the lateness. i was late quite a few times on them. i eventually consolidated my loans.

the best thing to do is just pay it off.

FI has probably worse credit then me, but he recently applied for a credit card and got approved so i am guessing his cant be that bad.

when we go for the morgage we may use him since i am still in the process of paying off all my debts and all he has is the one credit card and student loans.

rach you were worried about being late, yea try Brian was 11 years late. He just started paying back his student loans. if he is on time every month for a year (to show consistancy) it will go on his credit report that its in payback mode and in good standing

i learned there are 2 good debts: morgage and student loan.

pay back what you can and as quickly as you can. it will pay off in the end.

also go on line to fanniemae.com
get the free literature on understanding your credit. it is really helpful. i got it a few months ago and its been a great source for getting my debts in order

can you get a 0% transfer? that is best if you can. if not, pay the maximum you can on the card with the highest interest rate, minimum on the others. keep going until all is done. don't pay late. and pay it as you get the money as opposed to once a month. you pay less in interest over the long run. set it up for online banking and if you can, send $50 a week as opposed to $200 a month for example.

i was never really that good with money till my wife came along.

I have awful credit. And now I am doing what the other girls have suggested and I am paying off all my loans and credit cards. I only have one left to pay now and we'll pay off the last one with our wedding money. It will take many years for my credit to get back to being 'good' but I'm working on it.

We are also going to be looking for a house soon and there is no way that I will get a mortgage. My FI has already been approved himself for a good amount and when the time comes we'll just buy the house under his name then put mine to the deed at a later date.

Good luck!!!

I think everyone's advise is right on target - pay off your debt on time and so on. However, having debt doesn't at all imply bad credit. Bad credit is a result of late payments and/or failure to pay at all. I had tons of debt (hmm, should I venture to say at one point it was close to $15K, and that doesn't include my $25K school loans). But I never missed a payment and always paid on time, even if the minimum was all I could afford. The year before our wedding, I moved in with hubby and paid off my debt. I didn't open new credit accounts and closed off all the ones I didn't need. Beware - those store credit cards charge upwards of 22% interest. Pay them off first. And you can also cancel an account and still have debt - they just keep sending you a bill each month and with the account closed, you can't be tempted to charge anymore.

Any and all accounts will stay on your credit report for 7 years. Call the credit card companies and tell them you are looking for a better interest rate and will transfer your money from that card if they can't help. I once told a company I was going to transfer my $5K balance to a card that had a 7.9% no fee transfer rate and I was told if I kept my money with them, they would give me 6.9%. After a year, my interest rates were all on cards with rates as low as 2.9%.

I am now debt free (hubby was always debt free) with the exception of continually paying off my school loans and monthly car lease. I recently ran my credit report. On a scale of 350-850, I scored a 795. I'm proof that having tons of debt is not a detriment to your credit rating!!

You need to establish the fact that you never miss a payment and pay on time. Good Luck.

BTW, we were not engaged yet when we bought our house together, so my hubby's name was the only one we had approved for credit purposes. Once we married and refinanced the mortgage, we pu tmy name on. That's always one way to go.

Good Luck.

I have great credit now, but didn't always and found out a few things that might help.

1. Reduce the amount of inquiries to your credit (ie...everytime you apply for a cc or even to increase the balance of one, get a new phone, apply for a mortgagae, car loan etc...Someone checks your credit and everytime the do it is considered a 'hit' which is a bad thing...) Not all hit's are bad, but you want to LIMIT the amount....

2. If you have a cc with a huge limit that you are not using HAVE IT REDUCED...Credit card co's and bureaus consider that a risk....That you have the 'potential' to charge up to whatever amount it is.....Keep your limits reasonable.

3. ALWAYS ALWAYS pay bills on time!!!! Even if it is only the minimum.....just make sure it is on time.

4. Never co-sign for anyone unless you ARE SURE they are responsible!!!!!!

5. Having a slightly higher balance on just a few cards is better than having small balances on MANY cards.....

6. Watch your interest rates and transfer balances when they rise....watch for hidden charges and rises in interest rates carefully!!! (if you make a late payment, most cc's will hike up your interest to over 23%)

Hope this helps!

I agree with all the advice you got. I work for a bank now and actually do Marketing for their balance consolidation group.

1st consolidate everything on to a low APR card. This as Matt said will help you decrease this debt quicker.

2nd A school loan is not looked at as bad debt (unless you miss payments)

Having no credit history could actually hurt you more than having credit cards with balances on them. Just because you have a balance does not mean you are a bigger risk than someone who has no credit history. As long as you pay at least the minimum on time it does not damage your credit.

3rd having a lot of inquiries to your credit report looks bad. This occirs everytime you apply for a new card or a loan of any sort. So for those of you that open store credit cards for the extra 10% off could be hurting your credit card.

My best advice is to consolidate all balances and close other accounts. Keep open the ones with the lowest APR or the highest credit limit (you never know when you need it)

Things will stay on your report for 7 years. I think when you close an account it only may show for three. I will double check that.

If anyone has questions let me know. In the 2 years I have been with Matt we have eliminated his debt and are starting to increase his credit rating which allows him to get credit line increases on his existing cards.

GOOD LUCK!!

That's exactly what happened to me, Tracy. FH is at the end of his rope and very upset with me for not handling this sooner.
I guess at this point I just pay off my CC ($900 total) with my tax return and continue to pay my student loan on time...

yeah, it ****s hun.. I totally hear where you are coming from...

are you trying to get a loan? is that why you want to get it fixed up ?

Tracy

If you are pre-apporved they should not deny you. Have you called their customer service?

Also call one or all of your existing credit cards and ask what rate they can offer you for a balance consolidation. Any rate will be better than your SPR (or standard purchase rate) which is most likely what your balances are sitting at right now. (this can be as high as 24%) If they can't offer you a low balance transfer rate ask if hey can lower your APR. Tell them you were offered a lower rate from one of your other cards or a balance consolidatation from another card and are considering closing the account with them. You will be amazed at what they will do to keep your account.

Do note that once you do a balance consolidation DO NOT USE THAT CARD TO MAKE PURCHASES. What a lot of people don't understand is that your purchase will sit behind the balance you transfered and be chared your higer rate. The money you send to the card gets applied to balances at a lower rate first!!!!!

If you are continuing to get denied stop applying for new cards. This will show up as hits on your report and that is bad.

Hope this helps

Marcella - I don't want to hurt me and FH's chances of getting a house. He is pre-approved, I am not (yet). We haven't tried to get me pre-approved b/c of my stupid #$%^&* credit issues. So I'm trying to get it cleaned up as best I can before we start looking for real and my credit hurts us.

If I knew then what I know now (meaning when I was young and stupid and ran up all my credit).