Journey To Fix My Credit Score: Zero To Hero!

Did you know that in July 2017, the average FICO credit score hit 700? I certainly didn’t.

And while that’s great for the average person, back then, my credit score certainly wasn’t anywhere near 700.

And perhaps, yours isn’t where you want it to be either.

But, here’s the good news, with a little bit of discipline and patience, we can raise our scores and reach that 700 mark. I was able to fix my credit score and get it to that point.

And you can do the same.

But how did I go from zero to hero? Well, here’s how it all went down…

In The Beginning…

It came in the mail one day. A plain white envelope with my name on it. One of the few pieces of mail that I got, considering that I hadn’t even yet graduated high school.

Little did I know that inside that nondescript envelope was a credit card that I would soon activate. A credit card that have a HUGE impact on my financial future.

It would be there for me during fun times, would pick up the tab for genuine emergencies, and would also be the subject of discussion when the corporate lawyers had me in their cross hairs.

My parents thought it was a good idea for me to have it but, as most parents do, they cautioned me to use it for emergencies only.

And as many young people do, despite what their parents say, I went off and used it for anything but emergencies. Nothing crazy mind you, just the occasional DVD or trick from the local magic store.

Surprisingly enough, I always managed to pay off the balance in full at the end of the month. I never fell behind on the payments because never used it that much, and the minimum payment due was usually less than my entire balance.

After a few years of being a good credit card user, I managed to go from an initial limit of $250 to over $2,000!

Related post: How to Raise Credit Score by 200 Points!

The Fall

Eventually that emergency that my parents mentioned years earlier happened. Only it wasn’t specifically my emergency…it was a family emergency. And, of course, I had to help out my family, I mean, most of us would, right?

So, naturally that help came in the form of maxing out my credit card. Fortunately, the emergency was solved. And fortunately again, my family took over payments of the credit card to pay off the balance.

Now, you may be wondering what the problem was. Sure, my card was maxed out, but it’s not like I really used it that much and my family was paying off the balance, sooooo, what’s the big deal?

Well, the problem was that while my family initially made the monthly payments. Those payments eventually stopped.

And me, being irresponsible, never stayed on top of it. I just trusted that the payments were still being made.

So, fast forward a bit. I graduate from college. I spend my days in a cubicle where I’m underpaid and overworked. And I’m saving and planning my route to financial freedom…

But one day, I come home to find a letter with my name on it. It’s a priority letter from one of the credit card company’s lawyers.

Redemption

When you get a letter like that from a corporate lawyer, talking about “legal action”. Well…that’s what you call a bad day.

Luckily, I had steady income, and a little over $1,000 saved up at the time.

After calling the lawyer to see what could be done, I was able to pay a big chunk of the delinquent balance. And I entered into a payment plan where I would pay a fifth of the remaining balance for the next 5 months.

To help me pull this off, I created a budget, and cut all of my expenses so that I could put the money towards my card payments.

And lo’ and behold, after months of tight budgeting and frugal living I was in the clear with a balance of $0.

But that ordeal left my credit in shambles. (Honestly, it probably wasn’t too good to begin with considering this had been a problem for years. I just never looked at my credit score!)

The Aftermath

Because my credit was terrible, I had to pay a higher deposit on my apartment, I couldn’t get financing on furniture (so I had to pay cash, which took months to save up), and the terms of my car loan weren’t very good either.

In general, I just had a hard time financially speaking.

To get myself on the right track financially and fix my credit score, I signed up with Credit Karma and Credit Sesame. (Two free apps I still use and love to this day.)

Credit Karma and Credit Sesame are similar apps and both provide the same credit score estimate, but they provided different details regarding my credit score info. (I’d highly recommend that you sign up for both of them)

Not only did I monitor my credit score with Credit Karma and Credit Sesame, but I kept up my frugal budget, made sure every one of my bills was paid on time and got another credit card (I know, I know…) to help rebuild my credit.

By doing these things I was able to fix my credit score and get it to the 700 mark quicker than I thought possible.

Now that my credit score is in 700s I find myself getting several nondescript envelopes in the mail with my name on them.

Related Post: How to Buy a Car With Bad Credit.

Journey to Fix My Credit Score – Final Thoughts

If you’re thinking about opening a credit card account, I would recommend that you exercise extreme caution and extreme discipline.

While credit cards can be very useful for building credit. The temptation to use it is powerful.

Even if you don’t think you’ll use it often for yourself, your loved ones may be in a situation you could solve with one swipe of your card. (For the record, I’d do it again. I’d just be more responsible with the payments.)

Just be careful.

And if your credit is already in the tank, don’t beat yourself up about it. You can fix your credit score! With a budget, discipline, and helpful tools like Credit Karma and Credit Sesame, you can get it where it should be!

Cheers! 

Related Post: Use Your Credit Report to Save Money!