building credit

T

tyrone2003

New member
Okay this is way off-topic from the whole weight loss thing but I figured this was a good place to ask since there's people from all walks of life on these boards.

Around this time last year I was at rock bottom, I had defaulted on almost 9k of Sallie Mae student loans and another grand to the apartment people, well I finally got it together and got it all paid off in full, faced the problem head on. So now my credit score is sitting at 568 and besides those settlements on my debts I have no credit history whatsoever.

Just wondering what do I need to do to start building my credit up, right now I just pay for everything in cash or on my debit card in full. I'm about to get a cell phone soon, and hopefully a car in a few months, is there a certain way I should go about paying for this stuff to improve my credit or should I continue using my debit card. I've never used a real credit card so... this is all kind of a blur to me.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
 
You could try a secured credit card; there are plenty out there. Basically you "secure" it with a deposit and from what I understand the value of that deposit is your credit limit. Also, department stores and gas stations are supposed to be more likely to issue cards to people with dinged credit.

Cell phones...eh...dunno. The company I work for doesn't report nonpayment to credit bureaus, but we also don't use contracts so that's probably why. We just turn your phone off if you don't pay your bill. I don't know about the other companies.
 
and don't apply for too many cards at once -that does send up a redflag...

Get your credit reports from the three agencies and make sure they are correct.

and do report any discrepencies..

The start with a low limit secured card and use it responsibly - don't buy on credit more than you can afford to spend in cash...
 
I got this from my finance class.




buy the 8.95 a month Equifax one and the 50.00 Suze Orman for adivce on buying your car and home (if you want one in the future). They also have forums and all kinds of things to help everyone out. I dont work for them, this is not an endorsement. I just know it has helped other people go from 500's to 750-ish. One kid from our class got up to 750 in 6 months with their advice and help.
 
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