I need serious advice people! I need to get my life together!?

Question

I am 19 yr. old female who turning 20 in a couple of weeks. I have a really bad past. I used to drink alot, smoked all the time spend my money recklessly whatever it was I did it. When I was 18 I got a credit card that had a $200 limit and I have yet to pay it off... back then I didn't care... needless to say the principle and interest are sky high. Now that I'm trying clean up my life and be responsible... I have two jobs while going to school full time...I need help. I have to move out cause I can't live with mother any more, so I went with a friend to get an apartment. It is tax credit housing... I have money to pay rent but I'm not sure if they will approve. What can I do clean up the financial mess that I have made and make myself financially independent from my parents and financially stable and secure for the future? How do I clean up credit by the time I'm 22? Do you think the housing people will reject me?

Answer 1

Call the card company and beg if this is debt you created within 7 years. No really if you can get irrate enough about the fees, they will remove some or all of them for the promise of paying off the balance. a tleast in my case it worked for one card, which I DID pay off but they keep charging me fees on payment s that weren't even late, the fee was more than the payment but o top it off I never got bills from them just kept paying it on-line through my bank beofre the due date.

I think it's completily deliberate to not send you bills when you're close to paid off,and to claim a payment arrived late in order to charge a fee cause you can't force them to get your payment in their system but they cut off time.

If yo pay it off it's not going to help you within even a year to get housing. If it's been many years I'd wait it out it's illegal after 7 years to continue reporting it and believe me they sold the debt to someone else a long time ago. Soem states have less than 7 years so check the law. Don't ever give them a payment if it's been that long because you than renew the debt and give them a right to rereport it on your credit report and yu have in essence admitted to the debt amount in full and it will haunt you for a long time, some may even try to keep charging you fees on the balance even though your account isn't open!

I would say for housing say look I had bad credit/ no credit but I do have money enough to pay rent, if your bank statement looks good I'd bring that with you to show you have money in the bank. If you're really worried and have the money offer to pay an extra month of rent in advance( I would avoid extra deposit cause you won't have access to that money until you moved out, thentoo it's all to tempting for the landlord to try very hard to find ways to keep most of that money for damages repairs paint jobs that they may not be entitled to).

Answer 2

I don't know it sounds that you had bad credit or you make you credit look bad. You were young and seriously I have heard that it is really hard to clean your credit. Everything that we do we have to pay it of with life, now you have to live with your mother. Next time be more care full, but don't feel bad you have learned your lesson I am pretty sure you are doing well know. Seriously it is nice that you have taken you life in a good way. You are putting your life together, but it don't have to be perfect the important thing is that you are trying and the effort and bad experiences you are suffering one day will be paid. Life can't be change in one day or months or even for many years, but if you continue trying one day you will reach your goal. Try to pay anything that you have on credit now, if you have a high interest just get another credit card that offers 0% for transferred balances, or get a loan and paid all those credit cards and then pay your loan on time.

Answer 3

its only a 200$ credit card limit and you only had one fault. so its not that bad as you think.
Call them up and make arrangements to make the payment in full. Make sure you talk about them sending you a letter of paid in full. Send that out to all the credit agencies and then they will place that it was paid on your credit report.
From there just apply for two or three cards at the mall and use them once only when you have the money for the item. And then buy it on the cards and pay them before the bill even gets to you so that you dont spend the money ahead of time.
As far as the housing problem trust me one credit card with a $200 limit will not hurt your chance's. for two reasons one you dont have real credit established. And two you were young and it was such a low credit limit. They wont judge you on that. They might think you dont have adiquit credit meaning alot more credit. So just apply for all them cards i said and DONT USE THEM until you can pay them off in full. Then get rid of them if you are bad with that stuff.
take care
P.S. the person DUUH that posted is wrong its not 7 years anymore now they report for 10 years Im pretty sure of. I just read somewhere that they changed all them years along with the Chapter 7 laws and whom can file and lengths of years.
As well they can report all the way till then and if you reopen the can of worms with them right before the cut of line they can continue from there on to report again. But again this is not a big deal

Answer 4

The best place to start for you will be some sort of service that lets you get a free copy of your credit report. (There are several places online like freecreditreport.com that will let you have one if you sign up for a 30 day trial for some BS service that you have to pay out the nose for if you forget to cancel it so DON'T FORGET!) Get your credit report and then take it to your bank (or your mam's bank if you don't have one) and ask someone there to help you look at it. Most banks, and especially credit unions, offer a free consultation to help customers read their credit report. This person is the absolute BEST person to ask how to start on the road to better credit. It doesn't have to take years!!! It can improve by over 100 points (credit score) in about a month with a few smart moves. One thing to ask about at the bank is a secured credit card. It works like this: You put at least $250 in a "locked" account and the bank gives you a bonafide credit card with a limit of the same dollar amount. You use the card just like a normal credit card and it builds your credit, but with no risk for the bank.

Start there, and follow the other advice the bank counseler gives you, and you'll have OK credit in no time. You might not qualify for housing that requires a credit check, but keep looking for housing that doesn't require it. If you can't find any, ask at DSHS and they can help you find some.

Good Luck!

Answer 5

The real question is why can't you live with mother anymore?

You don't have the credit to live away from home, right now.

You need to get your life together BEFORE leaving maminem's house!

Is she too controlling or is she still waiting for you to act your age and not your shoe size?

You need to stay with maminem until at least 22 because, based on your previous actions, you are no where near grown.

You need at least 24 months to prove to creditors and yourself that you can handle "rent" if you had problems with a $200 credit card at age 18.

Here is what you do
1) List your income
2) List your normal recurring expenses (rent, utilitities, gas for car, food, entertainment, cell phone, auto insurance and the like).
3) Subtract expenses from your income.
4) If the number is negative --> stop --> remain at Mom's house until you find a job that makes Income - Expenses a positive #.
If the number is positive --> stick to the budget.
5) Pay your bills (keep them in a hanging file folder divided by creditor).
6) Pay your bills on time (write the due date on the front of each envelope and check your hanging file on a periodic basis -- e.g. weekly).
7) Tell yourself "hell no" when you want to buy something that you really, really want, but really, really don't need. This is called self-control and growing up.
8)If you ever find that you can't pay a bill on time --> call creditor first and work out payment arrangement -- let me be clear on this --> would be a good idea to call as soon as you realize that you can't pay the bill ==> do not wait until the bill is PAST DUE to reach this realization ==> that is what trifling folk do.

After 24 months of timely payments, apply for your apartment with your friend(s) and thank your mama endlessly for the FREE RENT she gave over age 18!

And lastly, you didn't get into this mess in one month's time and you ain't gonna rehabilitate your FICO score in one month either. Pipe dreams are for crack addicts, not for folk who are serious about getting on the right track!

Answer 6

Everybody goes through struggles in life, and everybody makes mistakes. Eventually you have to forgive yourself or else your past is just going to keep dragging you down. I'm just glad I didn't have to learn that the hard way like a lot of other people in my life. There were times when my suffering seemed unbearable, and I thought I had nobody to turn to. I was depressed and felt stricken of motivation. I had friends and family fighting for their lives and my family was so depressed I didn't have the heart to vent my problems to them. And I realized what true friendship was and that the only true friends I had I wasn't able to see, so I was alone. But when I decided to finally take God seriously, my life changed completely. Aside from true love, true friends, better living conditions, my friend being saved from devil-worshiping gang-bangers, my little sister being saved from blood clots, etc, I've learned so much, including how to motivate myself and others. You're only 21. That's pretty young. I'm 3 years younger than you and 3 years is not a lot. You're life's still just beginning and besides that, it's never to late to realize your dreams. I suggest you try motivating yourself. Listen to motivational music, exercise, do chores and whatever else you can for your mom while your living with here to prove that not only can you carry your own weight, but other people's as well. Your a lot stronger than you think you are. I can tell because you're still alive. You haven't given up yet! That means there's still a chance for your life to turn around. Haven't you heard? Your life is a blessing. Your very existence is an act of love. So make everybody who loves you proud and live your life the best you can. If you don't know what you want to do with your life, keep searching. Only when you stop searching is it impossible to find. And don't forget to have fun. Laughter is the best medicine, and pastime. It's great for motivating you and helping you feel refreshed and ready to do more. Achieve your goals and then reward yourself. Life is full of challenges. That's what you call your problems! Challenges. Something that can be overcome. See? Nothing is ever as bad as it seems. Life is what you make of it so make it full of wonderful memories with people you care about, or finally doing what you set out to do. You're life was meant for so much more. You're just at a standstill right now. All you need to do is start the engine and peel off. Good luck and God bless.

Answer 7

Are you living in US? $200? if you have realised yourself have spent too much, try to cut the Credit card. (force yourself not to spend too much over budget). Find a job of course can help you. Do u study at the same time? You can do something like "tutor" to lower grade classmate, earn the tutor fee. Give up smoke, drink which are not essential expensive. if you really wanna clear all the debt, it is never too late. and for the problem of housing, i can't suggest you. it is hard to estimate the decision fm government. Good luck

Answer 8

Sorry to tell you, but I think credit reports will stay with you for 7 years. Credit and Driving Records are the two important things in the United States. Bad credit? That's going to hurt - Bad Driving Records .. that will hurt too. Good luck and you should
call the Credit Bureau.

Answer 9

First off, with your credit card. Find out how much you owe. Get that money together, call them up and tell them you want to pay off the balance. Then simply as to close the account and ask "do you delete?"

9 out of 10 will say yes if you agree to pay of the balance right then and there. If they say yes, tell them you want a letter stating this emailed to you, or faxed before you pay, so you have proof. Then once they give you your info, pay them off. They will report to the creditors to take it off your report, but make sure you get that paper before you pay. Saying, "they said so on the phone" doesn't work. If you have that paper, you have the proof they said it.

And also, someone above said Lexington law. they will do the job, but if you only have 1 thing, you can take care of this yourself.

Also, if they reported you to a collection agency, you can contest that with your letter from the original company and they have to take their claim off as well. That's why you need that letter.

Answer 10

i don't know about cleaning up yr credit, but if you have trouble with housing, you can do one of two things:

- request a cosigner who has decent credit so that the llord will feel more secure in his/her decision to rent. this doesn't affect you, per se, but it basically makes the other person liable if you flake out on rent.
- consider rooming in a house with other people. doesn't require a credit check , usually, and people usually just want a work reference to check you out.. it's usually cheaper and you can meet good people. and that way you can start building your credit back....

you can build your credit back, to the best of my understanding -- you just need to be consistent about paying bills in full and on time, etc.

hope this helps some