ok i had a series of dumbass finanacial descions i.e. maxing out 3 credit cards, leaving an account with a negative balance,etc . just wondering if it's better to pay them off in lump somes which i've done with the closed account and 1 of the credit cards arlready or is it better to make promt payments each month. of course doing the lump sum saves me tons in interest i'm just wondering how they each affect your credit scores.

3/10/2006 8:42:31 PM

you rule

3/10/2006 8:44:00 PM

Join the Mob.
Testify Against the Mob.
Join Witness Protection.
Profit.

3/10/2006 8:53:59 PM

Get a credit check and pay everything off.

3/10/2006 9:09:21 PM

http://www.creditboards.com

3/10/2006 9:15:38 PM

the quicker you pay everything off, the quicker your credit will be restored...companies generally report the status of accounts to credit bureaus at the end of each month. Therefore, if you paid everything off tomorrow, it would all show 0 balance on April 1. It will not effect your credit after it shows 0 balance, but it will remain on your credit report for a while (I'm not sure how long). It will just show the companies name and that you don't owe them any money.

3/10/2006 9:47:27 PM

^^ Ooh... good link. Creditboards is a great resource for anyone who's trying to repair their credit. Definitely one of my favorite forums.

^ 7 years is the max amount of time for negative information (except certain bankruptcies, which can stay for up to 10 years). Also, different companies report at different times.

Repairing your credit isn't a quick process, and anyone that tells you otherwise is just scamming you. You didn't get into this predicament overnight, and you're not going to get out of it overnight, either. But it is possible to fix it. You just gotta hang in there.

3/10/2006 11:07:40 PM

I've heard that if you get a CC that charges an annual fee, and make small purchases on it and pay them off in full for like a year, that really helps your credit.

3/11/2006 12:03:40 AM

what would an annual fee have to do with anything?

of course paying your cards on time will help you, along with keeping your utilization down on your cards

3/11/2006 12:18:17 AM

How does your credit history look? I'm up to my ears right now in debt, including nearly maxed out cards, but I've got a solid history and a solid plan for paying everything off.

3/11/2006 7:21:35 AM

Has anybody ever used one of those companies that consolidate debt? What are your experiences? How does that affect your credit? I heard there is more than one type of consolidating company and some are better than others.

3/11/2006 10:46:46 AM

If you pay it all off your credit will be restored, but it won't be "good credit", and it will be a low score. So, if you get them all paid off and go get a credit card and put something on it, and make the payments, then it builds. I got my credit limit doubled recently after only about a year.

[Edited on March 11, 2006 at 10:55 AM. Reason : and]

3/11/2006 10:55:05 AM

Does having a nearly maxed out card adversely affect your credit even if you make the payments on time every month?

3/11/2006 11:03:12 AM

Nope, not if you make their interest happy! They WANT you to spend all the money you can so they can get more extra money in interest.

3/11/2006 11:07:04 AM

^WRONG


your credit is negatively impacted by having too much of your available balances charged up.


I believe it's best to have less than 30% utilization, ie if you have a $1000 limit, charge $300 or less.

3/11/2006 12:55:56 PM

^ what she said.

3/11/2006 1:02:52 PM

where do i go to get the free credit check, the whole 3 free one's per year or whatever it is?
thanks

3/11/2006 1:19:56 PM

that would be called debt/income ratio.

3/11/2006 1:19:56 PM

https://www.annualcreditreport.com/cra/index.jsp

3/11/2006 1:21:35 PM

how does the request work? if i check all three companies will that use up all my free ones?

3/11/2006 1:25:01 PM

yes


you're supposed to spread them out throughout the year

3/11/2006 1:30:06 PM

One free report every 4 months or so. Note, this does NOT give you a credit "score" ... just a report. The score costs money each time you do it.

Consolidation can be a difficult thing depending on how much you want to consolidate. The best thing I've found so far is a one-year unsecure loan at 7.25% through my credit union. You can go for a three year plan, but that bumps the rate to 9.25%. Unfortunately, coming out of college, you probably don't own the title to your car or a mortgage on a house, so you can't get a lower-rate secured loan.

3/11/2006 3:30:38 PM

Quote :

"Nope, not if you make their interest happy! They WANT you to spend all the money you can so they can get more extra money in interest."

wow

3/11/2006 3:40:54 PM

duct tape fixes everything

3/11/2006 5:16:11 PM