Help building credit?

Question

First of all I will admit that I did mess up when I was younger with credit cards. Now that I'm older, and married, and trying to get a house I realize that I should have been smater about the situation. That being said, my husband and I were looking into getting a house and found that my credit is LESS than spectacular. In the mean time, I have decided to try and improve my credit. My problem though has been that I have applied for a few credit cards and all have told me the same thing...Sorry we can not give you credit based on delenquinces from past creditors. I have paid off all of my past accounts that had went to collection, and am currently working on paying off one other card (this one has NOT gone to collections). My question is how or where can I get a credit card that will help my credit score without being denied?

Answer 1

Hey,P.K.,

Got a question for you...On that card that hasn't gone to collection, is it still open? If it is, that in itself is your ticket to rebuilding credit. If it isn't, then what you may want to do is this, focus on paying the card off. Let me ask another question, do you have a checking and savings account? If you haven't already, you need to get one. Reason I say this is that a checking account is a valuable tool in buidling and maintaining credit. Affiliating yourself with a bank shows creditors that you're not careless with your money. And it provides a means of consistently paying bills on time especially if they offer online bill pay. And another benefit is that by being an account holder it makes it more accessible to things like loans, mortgages (hint, hint), and credit cards (hint, hint, hint,). My homie Spifiman hit it on the head with a secured card, but I'll go into a little more detail. How a secured card works is this: a deposit that's used as collateral is placed upfront in order to establish a line of credit the same amount of the deposit. Now the deposit isn't used to pay for anything that's used on the card, you still would have to repay that every month just as you would a normal credit card, the deposit on determines the credit limit in which you control which is an advantage. You can add to the deposit to increase the limit which can help your score because a cushion is created between the total debt that you owe and the available credit. In a sense you can think of this as custom-building a credit card to help you build credit. A good way to manage the card would be to treat it as if it only had a $50 credit limit at any given time while you're spending only $20 a month and paying it off when the bill comes. This way, you're building credit but at the same time not going into serious debt in the process. Just be sure to use no more than $20 a month, pay it off on time and add to the credit limit while you're at it. Usually after a year or so of doing this, the card either converts to a regular one or a better one is offered, and most importantly, the deposit is no longer needed and it's given back.

So there you have it. I went ahead and posted links to some secured card companies that you can take a look at.

Answer 2

its a fine line. I've been reading up on it and what helps build your credit is to have a balance on the oldest card you have and make the monthly payments plus alittle more. So paying it all off at once wont hurt your credit, but it might not boost it either. I think it depends on how many you have open with a balance and what the total balance is. I read also that you should never have more than 50% of your total limit used. Because that can put a negative on your score.

Answer 3

I was in the same situation. I went to my credit union where I do business and she extended a credit card to me with a 300 dollar limit. I use it once a month to buy gas then I pay it off. Now I have a Captial One Mastercard and I did have a First Premier Mastercard but I did not like there terms so I paid them off and closed the account.

Answer 4

First, be aware that the process will take a few years. You screwed up and now you're paying for it, and now you'll have to demonstrate the patience you didn't before.

Start with a secured credit card. You have to deposit money, say $500 to start, with them, so in effect you are 'borrowing' your own money. But that's how you get started. by paying off your bill, on time, all the time, you'll eventually get an unsecured card. Keep on paying on time, but also examine your lifestyle and cut out the things you know deep inside you can live without.

Answer 5

we all been there...is what you need to do is get a secured credit card..meaning you give the credit card company say $500.00 to open an account...then your credit limit is the $500.00...you make payment on your $500.00 limit on time and your credit score goes up...
under any search engine just type in secured credit cards...and pick a good company..do your homework on it..don't take the first company...and make sure they report to the credit companies..

Answer 6

Try Capital One, H.S.B.C., First Premier and Orchard bank.

If all else fails get a secured card from your bank just be sure they report to the credit bureaus or it will not help.

Answer 7

JC Penneys Card. My husband was just like you and he was approved. My sister had no credit and my other sister bad credit. All approved. Not only that I used to work there and people said I will try and I'm telling you I won't be approved.....I'd say 95 percent were. Let me know if you were approved. :-)

Answer 8

You can improve your credit by applying only to one or two credit cards and paying yhem on time, try this site it is safe I've got a couple of cards here

http://www.CREDITCARDSEARCHSITE.INFO

Answer 9

creditinfocenter com