Thread: Bankruptcy two years in the past

Hello everybody. I've never had a credit card up until recently. Most of my credit before bankruptcy was built paying car loans and mortgages off.

It's been two years since BR. I went to Fry's electronics to buy a new Computer with no intentions of getting a credit card. But as usual the salesman convinced me to apply for the fry's electronics credit card. I was approved for a $2,000 limit. I asked him what the interest rate was on that card. He said 26%. I said are you kidding me? He said that's just the standard interest rate on a retail store credit card.

So I paid the $1,950 computer off hitting it with $500 a month payments and paid it off quickly.

I still knew that I needed to get a regular major credit card. So I went to my bank (WellsFargo) and applied for a Visa card. I was approved. So they sent me a Visa college cash back card with a starting limit of $700. So I plan to use it for gas and groceries and of course just pay the bill when it comes in immediatly. The card has 3% cash back on gas groceries and drug store purchases.

My question is should I eventually get a credit card like an American express Blue cash card later on or just keep the college card I've read up on the top 10 credit cards to have and of course they all have their strengths and weaknesses. Since I don't travel much I don't really need airline miles. Cash back works for me. Would like to here suggestions from people more versed in the credit card game than me so that I can get the maximum benifit out of the cards. Thanks Rick.

I'll try to answer both in a nutshell. I got the Fry's card this last November. And the Wells Fargo Visa card last week. I've been with Wells Fargo for a long time. They are also the bank that mortgaged my house 11 years ago and still have it. So there is some time invested with them.

The bankruptcy was chapter 13 "reorganization of debt". So we had to pay back all of the debt. It was supposed to last 5 years but we paid it off in 3. When it was over we had paid back over $58k and didn't owe anybody anything after that. But of course it's still on our credit and will be for a while. My wife decided to quit working and go back to school to become an RN years ago and that chopped our income in half. It was 10 years of struggling I'd rather forget. But now that's all changed and we are doing really well so I wanted to build my credit score back up to where it was at 770. We both applied for a Visa last week. I was approved and she was not. So even though we are married my SSN and her SSN are still ours and separate from each others luckily lol!

I'm not interested in having 10 Major credit cards. Just a few to help build my score up over time with just everyday purchases like gas and groceries. It looks like the cash back reward cards like the one I have is a pretty typical 2-3% cash back on groceries and gas which is all I plan to use if for. Of course that 2-3% is only for the first 6 months and then goes down to 1% I think. And that is why I say eventually move up to a card with better perks.

After doing a little research on chapter 13 it looks like the 7 year clock starts ticking as soon as the court has approves the bankruptcy. It doesn't start after you've been discharged. So that means the bankruptcy is 5 years old. Not 2. And my credit score was good enough to get approved for one retail card and one major card. And I'm glad about that because it means that I'm on the road to recovery. Having great credit is very very important to me. Ironically Wells Fargo is the one who forced us into BR after they bought our mortgage. Even our Bankruptcy lawyers were shocked and appalled at how they were trying to pull the rug out from under our feet. That's a whole other story. But it's all over now and we both have a good relationship with each other and they have even suggested that I refinance my mortgage with them from 6.5% interest to 3%.

But the reason I entered this site was to find answers that have to do with using credit cards to help me maximize my credit score in the least amount of time because I'm wet behind the ears in the credit card game. And just need a little push in the right direction and a few suggestions that's all.

Owning a house is one of the best investment anyone can make. You get to write off the mortgage interest every year. You get to write off any home improvements you make to it. And the mortgage you pay every month goes toward ownership. When you rent you get none of that. Your just paying for the right to stay on the premises month to month. Home ownership is part of the American dream.

Over the years I've been lucky enough to have acquired a few toys aside from my daily drivers. A Corvette ZR-1 and a 1968 Mustang. And there's no way I'd want to park them in an apartment parking stall. They stay tightly lock in my two car garage until I want to beat the pavement up with them. The daily drivers stay in my driveway.

Now I can understand if your very young and in college. Most people in college can't afford home ownership at that point in their lives. But when your a little older and well established in your trade and ready to raise a family then it will be more important. But if you can afford it home ownership at any age is not a bad idea. It also looks good on a credit report.