I need help figuring out how to fix my credit.

Both ways that people are sharing are ok, the point is to pay them off asap. Google Snowball debt repayment calculator. www.treesfullofmoney.com has a fabulous one. It gave me direction and a solid plan with an end date, which was encouraging.

If some of your debts are quite small (a few hundred dollars), then definitely pay them off first. It will give you motivation to keep going and you will feel productive. You will need patience to attack those bigger ones, so just keep looking at your Get Out of Debt Date to stay positive.

Most importantly, look for ways to cut your daily expenses. Can you trim your phone bill? Live without cable, a home phone, certain grooming/beauty items, grocery items? Freezer cooking/stocking is a great way to save money and we buy as much in bulk, like flour, pasta, spices, as possible. That helped us scrape up a few extra hundred to throw on debt each month.

Now, credit. Do you have credit cards? Are you paying them off each month? What interest rate are they? If they are like mine and in the 20% interest rate, pay them off asap and only use them when you can pay them off at the end of the month. Also, aim to only use up to 30% of the available credit on your card. When you go over a certain amount, your credit score is dinged. Paying off your cards each month will help your score quite a lot, after a few months. You can also get a small bank loan and pay it off, that helps as well.

I will wish you good luck, but it's not luck that will get you out of this hole, it's your determination and perseverance. I know you have that in you! So go ahead and start your journey to a better life.

Cheers

What about all of the double things on my report? the charges that show up twice on my credit report for the same amount. can I dispute them?

they probably aren't double, they are just being reported by a different credit bureau

Besides fixing past mistakes on your credit report what I had done was get 1 credit card. I would put my gas on it and pay it off on my next paycheck. Others may disagree but it helped my number go up. For me personally, I spend less money if I have to charge it than using my debit card. Still swiping the card, but I wanted to make sure I could really pay my credit card on my next statement so I didn't pay interest. So I wouldn't buy that purse or whatever if I really couldn't afford it. My credit card I had gotten did have a yearly fee because my score was low but after the second year I called the credit card company and they waived my fee and lowered my interest rate.

We had double what you owe, owing. Nothing in collections. We watched 'til debt do us part' (there are American episodes I believe). Gail Vazoxlade is a no nonsense/ stop making excuses kinda woman. She has a website- www.GailVazOxlade.com that has a ton of tools to help you make a plan to get out of debt.

I wouldn't worry about credit rating until you start paying things off. She'll suggest listing your debts, in order of interest rate (highest to lowest) make min payments on everything except the highest one and throwing what you can on that then when that's paid off taking all of that money and putting it on the next highest interest rate debt (snowballing). You can also do the smaller amts first.

Before you think you don't have extra $, ask yourself if you are being honest... Eating out once a week "because you deserve it"?- stop that. Get rid of magazine subscriptions, stop buying your daily coffee, get basic or no cable, downgrade your cell phone/package, meal plan, shop once a week with a list and cook at home, turn off lights/turn down heat, no shopping for things-always ask "do I WANT this or NEED this" you need medications.... You don't need new clothes etc. Buy 2nd hand if you can.

Most important is to track spending. Every frigging little penny. Buying a pack of gum? Write it down. Get a book and a pen and write it out. It will help you see where you can cut further.

Gail gives you 3 years to repay, I took a year. Call your creditors, ask them to lower interest rates.... If they dont, ask for the supervisor, if they wont then ask for the manager keep trying cause the worst they can do is say no. Can you get a card with a lower rate? Get it and transfer you balance(make sure you can pay it off before the rate goes up if the interest is higher than what you are paying now). Talk to the collections agency and tell them your plan to repay. Send post dated cheques as proof. That might stop the calls.

In all of this, start an emergency fund. Start small, $5/week. Don't rely on credit to bail you out if something comes up. It seems weird to save a little when you have debt but it will help to know you are doing something.

Get a 2nd job-walk dogs, clean houses, whatever you can to make extra and throw all of it on your debt.

The secured card will be fine AFTER you have gotten rid of the debt. We didn't dispute anything. Never hears of that. We knew we spent the money and had to be accountable for paying it back.


ETA-she also has a book "debt free forever" that helped us immensely. It has many of the same tools as the website but it is nice to have all of her stuff in one place and her suggestions/advice to go along with it. Good luck!

Just an update: I am working really hard on my credit report, I have an account at creditkarma.com and they give me my score, so i can keep track.

what about those places like lexington law where they help get suff off your report, some people say they are scams and others say they are not. any one know for real?

If the information is inaccurate, then they might be able to help, but you can probably fix that yourself. If the information is correct then they probably can't get it removed.

go to www.creditkarma.com. It's a great site and it's free. It has TONS of useful information. Good luck!

Agree with this!!! This is Great Advice!!!

You can't dispute it just because you paid it off. It's still a legit black mark on your report and you'll just have to wait for it to fall off.

As for what order to pay things off in, you can start with the small ones if they are really small. However, I would pay the ones with the largest interest rate off first. Choose one, pay as much as you can and the minimums on the rest. Once that is paid off, choose the next one, add what you had been paying on the first one to the minimum you had been paying on the second and pay the minimums on the rest. And so on. It'll take some time, but you'll get there.

Agree with this.

Also, do not dispute charges you know are legit. That's shady and illegal.

Pay off the high interest stuff first. Do not miss a single payment. Pay as much as you possibly can each month. Cut out entertainment costs: going out to eat, going out for movies, etc. and do them at home. Take that money and put it towards paying off what you owe already. Stop buying anything unnecessary. DO NOT use one card to payoff another. Just pay cash unless you have a deal on 0% interest on balance transfers or something like that.

Make a habit now of not using your credit cards for anything anymore other than a legitimate emergency (car broke down, hospital, etc.). Just use your debit, cash, or checks for everything.