Fixing my credit?

[lorihadams]

I agree, pay off as much of the little stuff as possible in the next 3 months and find out what some of those weird charges are and get them cleared up if possible cause the debt to income ratio is one thing they will look at for sure. If you have lots of debt spread around in little places then that might not be so good. Student loans didn't seem to be a big deal to the bank when we did our stuff cause they are almost looked at in a different light, kind of like they aren't your fault Three months doesn't seem like a lot of time but if you have the funds to get all that little stuff paid off then do it. At least you know what you're up against.

I still think you need to check out other banks as well and see if someone else can give you a better deal, especially after some more of the debt is gone.

 

[AL]

I am a loan officer at my job. Just some tips:
For quick results
- try to get something paid off,
- dispute the $600 charge with the credit bureau that is reporting it - chances are the financial institution can't or won't do anything with it unless you go that route
- most states don't consider delinquent medical bills; if this applies to you pay $10 a month and concentrate on the other bills

Long term:
- get a credit card . Most of the time the information reported is the information on your statement. If you pay the balance off before your statement ends then you will have a report that looks like you do not use the card = you do not build credit. If your statement ends on the 10th of each month, pay it off on the 11th. Most places have a grace period on charges from purchases (as opposed to balance transfers or cash advances) so you can still avoid paying interest. You can get a line of credit as well (usually as a funding for a checking account) but these do not generally have grace periods on interest
- make your payments on time. If you can't , stay in contact with the lender - ask for a deferral or a payment plan. Timely payments have the biggest impact on your credit
- use 30% or less of your credit limit. Your debt to credit ratio impacts your credit score
- google debt to income ratio calculators and figure yours. If it is over 40% you need to determine why and what changes you can make (exceptions for mortages)

good luck!


ETA - pulling your own credit score does not effect your credit at all. Go to annualcreditreport.com and get a free report. If you want your score it generally is about $7 - $9 but the report will have everything you need to make decisions without the score.
Also, where I work we don't count education loans that are still in deferral status