Author Topic: Destroyed my Credit... trying to rebuild  (Read 4707 times)

Bearblastbeats

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Destroyed my Credit... trying to rebuild
« on: June 14, 2013, 09:35:52 AM »
Welp, here I am again.
If you have read any of my other trainwreck stories of my life, you'll know the shit storm that has been my life.

Cutting to the chase.

I have such poor credit atm I cannot even get a simple gas card from a mobil or anything.
I need to fix this.
Fortunately, I have the ability to live for free with just a share of utilities, overall costing me alone less than $50 a month. I have a shitty jeep that costs me about $70 a week in gas and probably over $100 a month in maintenance to keep it on the road.

I don't have a dime in savings, I've been using my money to pay off debts (finally paid off my attorney! paid off all CC 2 years ago and now I'm tackling my Student Loans)

I cut WAY back on driking (Bought one beer in two weeks)
I quit smoking (cold turkey, I can handle it!)
I haven't had a damn red bull all week and only went to the grocery store once this week last night for a $6 steak that I only ate half last night.

What I am trying to do:
Put at least $100 in saving every week (this is what I was paying my attorney for the past 10 month, figured I can still live on that?)
I then need a more reliable vehicle to get to work (Living in NH I travel down a death trap turnpike)
  My plan for this is to save up until Feb when it needs to be inspected again, Hopefully having at least $3000 to either A) fix the Jeep and run it another year.... or B) rid myself of the thing, take the money and it down on a newer used car and take a small loan out to establish credit again...

If I choose the latter, I plan to then pay off that loan in hopes to build my credit to purchase some property within the next 3-5 years.

Is there anything you fellow mustachians could advise so I try and get out of this pit faster?

Another Reader

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Re: Destroyed my Credit... trying to rebuild
« Reply #1 on: June 14, 2013, 10:31:49 AM »
First, congratulations on making all these drastic changes in such a short period of time.  You may not be drinking beer and Red Bull, but you did drink the Kool-Aid!

What kind of work do you do?  Could you pick up another shift or do some moonlighting?  Even a part-time weekend job would give you a big boost.  Do you have a consumer-oriented credit union nearby that you are eligible to join?  Doing that and making regular deposits for a while might make them more interested in lending you money if you can't get a car any other way.

Time and a pattern of regular payments are going to help your credit.  Keep working at it and you will see the improvement.

Bearblastbeats

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Re: Destroyed my Credit... trying to rebuild
« Reply #2 on: June 14, 2013, 10:49:21 AM »
First, congratulations on making all these drastic changes in such a short period of time.  You may not be drinking beer and Red Bull, but you did drink the Kool-Aid!

What kind of work do you do?  Could you pick up another shift or do some moonlighting?  Even a part-time weekend job would give you a big boost.  Do you have a consumer-oriented credit union nearby that you are eligible to join?  Doing that and making regular deposits for a while might make them more interested in lending you money if you can't get a car any other way.

Time and a pattern of regular payments are going to help your credit.  Keep working at it and you will see the improvement.

I work at an engineering firm designing and constructing power conditioners, amplifiers and other types of electronic filtration devices. I sometimes will pick up extra work on the weekends with my brother cleaning or installing flooring. To be honest there isn't any other gig I can do that pays me the money I make now and I like to have my weekends open for band practice/shows/entertainment.

I could look into a credit union, where I live we have probably a few on every block.



Rebecca Stapler

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Re: Destroyed my Credit... trying to rebuild
« Reply #3 on: June 14, 2013, 12:00:26 PM »
Are you trying to rebuild your credit rating? Or trying to rebuild in general?

You mentioned having $0 in the bank now, hoping to have $3k in the bank in February, but saving $100/mo. How do you plan to get from $0 now to $3k in 8 months by saving $100/month?

Bearblastbeats

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Re: Destroyed my Credit... trying to rebuild
« Reply #4 on: June 14, 2013, 12:26:59 PM »
Are you trying to rebuild your credit rating? Or trying to rebuild in general?

You mentioned having $0 in the bank now, hoping to have $3k in the bank in February, but saving $100/mo. How do you plan to get from $0 now to $3k in 8 months by saving $100/month?

I stated $100 a week, not a month.

I used to have a high 700 score, but due to unemployment after college and a repo I'm down to a mid 500.

Rebecca Stapler

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Re: Destroyed my Credit... trying to rebuild
« Reply #5 on: June 14, 2013, 02:50:17 PM »
Are you trying to rebuild your credit rating? Or trying to rebuild in general?

You mentioned having $0 in the bank now, hoping to have $3k in the bank in February, but saving $100/mo. How do you plan to get from $0 now to $3k in 8 months by saving $100/month?

I stated $100 a week, not a month.

I used to have a high 700 score, but due to unemployment after college and a repo I'm down to a mid 500.

Sorry, I misread.

If you want to get your credit rating back up, you could try to get a secured credit card through the bank where you're saving your money and use it for expenses. Pay it back each month. Another way to build your credit rating if no one will lend to you is to be an authorized user on someone else's card. I'm not sure if you know anyone willing to do that for you, but your credit rating will go up if theirs is higher than yours.

But it looks like you want to rebuild without using credit, which is great! We drive a car worth about $2k these days, and haven't had any issues lately (knock on wood!), so getting that cash together should be enough for a reliable older car, plus whatever you can get by selling the Jeep.

MustacheCowboy

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Re: Destroyed my Credit... trying to rebuild
« Reply #6 on: June 14, 2013, 08:07:05 PM »
Time is the biggest help in repairing your credit. If you can manage to save $3K then I would take that and buy a cheap beater once you absolutely need to. I would also get your free credit report and make sure there are no outstanding collections or balances that you could payoff and boost your score. Good luck!

 

Wow, a phone plan for fifteen bucks!