Exactly. There are groups of people who basically sell this as a service.
Its far less effective if you have negative marks though. Great for beginners.
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Secured Credit Cards and Building Credit
- Thread starter Kaiken
- Start date
Exactly. There are groups of people who basically sell this as a service.
Its far less effective if you have negative marks though. Great for beginners.
Nice work, if you keep up what you're doing you should have your credit score at about 700 by the one year mark.
Congratulations! Get the good credit card with rewards and also try to get the deposit removed from your secured card, but you really should not take a car loan. If you need to take a loan, then you cannot afford it. Don't buy a car that you can't pay for with cash if you care at all about becoming financially independent.
Not every lender will do this so a major case of YMMV but I would look for the opportunity to take the existing line and change it from a secured card to an unsecured card. Essentially, there's no service interruption, no new hard pull on your credit (even though for the average borrower the impact of hard pulls is overstated), you'll get your initial deposit back including the likely pittance in interest that it's earned, and all the while not precluding you from getting that next card.
OP
OP
It'll be a small car loan. Just something else to compliment my credit history. I've been using public transportation for years, it's time to treat myself.
The card should automatically turn to unsecured. No rush at the moment to get this completed early. My deposit will come soon enough.
It's your decision to make, obviously, but taking on a car loan with interest is absolutely not what I would consider "treating" yourself, unless somehow you need a specific car that can only be had for a loan and that car will immediately go towards making you more money (more than the interest payments at a minimum). Otherwise, you're just hurting yourself in the mid-to-long term.
Congrats, man. I remember the feeling. It took me much longer due to charge-offs and settlements, but man does it feel incredible.
OP
OP
One full year later of on-time payments, never exceeding 30% of my credit limit has blessed me with a 770 Fico Score. I suppose it's time to move on to cash back cards and small loans.
All things considered, this wasn't as bad as I thought. Just have to play the patient game and stay on top of your spending. 10 year plan for a home begins now, ready for this new journey!
All things considered, this wasn't as bad as I thought. Just have to play the patient game and stay on top of your spending. 10 year plan for a home begins now, ready for this new journey!
A couple of years ago I had no credit so I used a secured card to build my credit. After a couple of months I switched to a regular card with a modest limit. I now have a card with a $10k limit, and my credit score is in the low 800s. Definitely try the secured card out. As others have said, just keep your utilization low, and pay off every month and you should be fine.
Bumping an old thread. I paid off my car and student loans last year. I'm living in my fiancé's house and pay her half so no bills in my name. I have a debit card and that's it. No debt anymore....
So apparently I have no credit anymore, or at least nobody can pull it up. I recall my credit score being in high 700s a couple of years ago. So my fiancé and I are looking into buying a new home together, but the loan officer couldn't find my credit.
I've been told my credit score isn't exactly gone. Whatever the score is once I start credit again it'll pick back up where it left off.
I did try applying for CapitalOne platinum but got denied. I may look into myMidFlorida Credit Union for a secured CC. Are credit unions good for secured CC?
So apparently I have no credit anymore, or at least nobody can pull it up. I recall my credit score being in high 700s a couple of years ago. So my fiancé and I are looking into buying a new home together, but the loan officer couldn't find my credit.
I've been told my credit score isn't exactly gone. Whatever the score is once I start credit again it'll pick back up where it left off.
I did try applying for CapitalOne platinum but got denied. I may look into myMidFlorida Credit Union for a secured CC. Are credit unions good for secured CC?
Short term you can have your fiance add you as an authorized user on their credit cards, most banks know what you're doing but it'll boost your scores.
Otherwise a secured credit card from a credit union is a great place to start, they usually convert it to unsecured in a year if you're ontime with payments. Just treat it as a debit card and pay it off every month.
My credit was in shambles a few years ago after a string of medical bills and a lost job. I got one of the cards from Capital One that started with a $300 limit and went from there. I mainly used it to pay for gas and and a utility bill and then paid it off in full every pay period. Over time my score and credit limit grew. My credit score was in the 500s now I'm sitting at 760 last I checked.
OP
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5 Year Update:
We're almost breaking 800 now. I did end up buying a new car which is almost paid off. All started with a $500 Capital One card credit line and now have several cards with over 25k of available credit. Next stop is paying the car off, putting some money away and quite possibly looking to own a home. Let's see how long that takes.
Time to research up on Roth IRAs now.
We're almost breaking 800 now. I did end up buying a new car which is almost paid off. All started with a $500 Capital One card credit line and now have several cards with over 25k of available credit. Next stop is paying the car off, putting some money away and quite possibly looking to own a home. Let's see how long that takes.
Time to research up on Roth IRAs now.
