Well, I did not have to rebuild my credit, but build it from the scratch.

I legally arrived to this country 3 years ago, knowing very little about credit system. At the beginning, I used my instincts which basically told me: pay as little as possible for credit. That's why I rejected all high maintanace fee, low credit limits CC and my progress was as follow in chronological order.
1. BOA Secure CC, 06/2006, $1000, AF $29, unsecured on 10th statement cycle, AF waived, converted a few times, today this is BOA AMEX, CL $25000.
2. Chase WAWA CC, 12/06, $4000, combined with Chase Shoprite and Chase Hess CC's, converted to Chase Freedom, non signature card, today's CL is $6500, never CLI'd, is used twice a month.
3. Macy's Store Platinum card, 12/06, $400, now CL is $4000
4. Macy's Store Red card ( opened in DW's name, now is joint), 01/07, $600, now CL is $5600
5. JCP Store Card, 03/07, $150, CLI on 11/07 to $1800, could not get cli since then, would close it, but DW likes shopping at JCP.
6. PayPal Buyers Credit, 04/07, $700, now CL is $1325, keep it only because of convinience of on line purchases.
7. BOA MC, 05/07, $3000, CL now is $21500.
8. WalMart Store Card, 08/07, $600, $1100, crappy card, gets closed on 08/09.
9. Citi CashReturns MC, 10/07, $3900, $12700, my lowest APR card - 5.99%.
10. Amex Blue, 10/07, $2400, $25000.
11. Macy's Visa, 11/07, $2000, $10000, this card was gotten by Macy's invite, so no hard pull, high APR, no grace period.
12. Saks World Elite MC, 04/08, $8500, no CLI since, I will probably close this card on 2 years anniversary.
13. Saks Store Card, 04/08, $2000
14. PenFed CashRewards Visa Platinum, 04/08, $20000, no CLI since.
15. Discover More, 05/08, $7500, $9000.
16. US Bank Bed, Bath and Beyond MC, 03/09, $7500.
17. Two Macy's specialty accounts (jewlery and furniture) total CL is $5200.

Total revolving unsecured CL is $166725, util is 0-1%.

My FICO scores DW's FICO scores
TU 756 TU 756
EQ 725 EQ 744
PLUS scores
TU 769 TU 761
EQ 747 EQ 738
EX 738 EX 738
CreditKarma
TU 775 TU 785
Alliant FCU score (allegedly EXP, NextGen FICO score)
787

That is cool and so helpful. Members who stop in will have some type of hope that rebuilding is possible when they read stories like these. Thanks Buddie, and furthermore, you owe it to yourself.

I thank everyone here for your help I have been rebuilding for about 3 years here is my progress sorry i cant remember dates but do remember the way I got them.

Orchard Bank MC Gold 300-400 then combined two accounts to 800 then increase to 900

Dillards 300-600 three months heavy use online

Chevron 300 will not increase my limit had for about 6 months pay in full every month online

JC pennys 600-1000 4 months heavy use in store

Direct Rewards Discover 300 will not give cli

Hooters MC 500 5 months

Macys 100- 200 rarely use online

Cap one 300 just got credit steps

Aspen MC my first card (almost forgot lol) 250-500-750-1000

Tribute 400 closed

Rewards 660 250 closed

First Pre 300 closed ( way to many fees)

Salute visa 300 closed

Hope this can help some one else, I encourage others to take the time to read old post. There is so much information that you can only find here. I could have been so much further ahead had I read the old threads first. Thank you again Meya, Hjm, Colo and Yoyo.

congrats eugene!

Thnx mathman i get inspired more and more on this forum reading members success stories and experiences with all aspect of credit and in life in general.

I have learned that it is not about how many credit cards that you can get, or why did this person get approved for this card and I could not, its all about showing these prime creditors that you have learned your lesson by making positive history with these subprimed banks.

I agree, it's not all about getting approved for as many cards as you can. As long as you and have a few credit cards in your arsenal and are able to maintain them, you will have excellent credit. It never hurts to have a mix of credit on your reports though such as installment loans, mortgages, etc.

Pass the Grey Goose!

I'll bring Bacardi

Well, I would like to add to the past statement which hjm pasted over to this thread. Everything has been going well for me, I have learned that it is not about how many credit cards that you can get, or why did this person get approved for this card and I could not, its all about showing these prime creditors that you have learned your lesson by making positive history with these subprimed banks. That is just basically the consequences and repercussions that we suffer through while rebuilding. For those who would like to take a peek at my the cards that I applied for to obtain credit please [URL="http ://www.financeglobe.com/SocialNet/forum/showthread.php?t=361&highlight=nice+cards"]click here[/URL]. Also here is another link you can [URL="http: //www.financeglobe.com/SocialNet/forum/showthread.php?t=413&highlight=report+credit+limit+increases"]click here[/URL] to see how my limits had increase. The totally increases were from over a 5 yr span, so I will not have actual dates of increases.

One thing I would like to say is that I felt so good when I was able to close accounts because I felt they were not justifiable in my financial books, which were, Lane Bryant, Target, and Dillard's. I know these cards may seem like they are worthless, well guess what, they approved a person like me and there are plenty of others who were denied. I never thought I would be able to have that type of authority but, being patient over time, with good (on time) payments, my financial background has made tremendous changes and I nearly at the point where I can say, "Good Bye" to subprimed, and "Hello" to prime.

congrats eugene!

Pass the Grey Goose!

Hey.....all virtual drinks on me:laugh:

Hey, I can't blame you for that!

Hope you enjoy it!

Congrats on the new Citi approval! What was card did you apply for and how much did they approve you for if you don't mind me asking?

I was approved for the Citi Platinum Select with a 4k credit limit and i am going to run away with it lol:laugh:

Congrats on the new Citi approval! What was card did you apply for and how much did they approve you for if you don't mind me asking?

Credit rebuilding and building is a process that you take one step at a time and requires patience(even though we all want the quick fix)and a commitment to stick to a plan and see it through. I've had good credit for many years but like many people with job loses and medical expenses i made a choice to keep food on the table and to keep a roof over my head and deal with the rebuilding process later. I started out with First Premier(i know i know lol) because recovering financially i did not have the cash for a secured card and i wanted to start the rebuilding process immediately with by making payments on the card and they did report pretty fast to the credit bureaus.

Credit one sent me a pre approved offer six months after i opened the First Premirer and i accepted (350 cl) and chevron sent me a pre approval a month later and i accepted that card also(cl 300).all this happened from june 04 to early 05 and by the end 06 i got two pre approved offers from orchard (300cl 39 fee) and household bank(750 cl no ann fee with 15%apr).
the next two years i went on a app spree and wound up with Target..Hooters..Best Buy...Valero...Walmart...Direct Rewards..Dillards...Macy's...and during this time i found this site and learned a whole lot(checked in the credit addict club for one) about things that were changing in the credit industry and throught people's experiences.

I closed my fisrt premiere card and all of my gemb cards for different reasons my scores dropped 10 points but i had to do what i had to do as i look back now i'm glad i did. In December i took out a personal loan and paid off all the rest of my cards and month later my fico scores leaped by 35 points and with all my collection off my report(they were about 41/2 years old when i started rebuilding) i decided to try for my first goal...a prime card.i went to CitiBank website apllied....closed my eyes and barely opened one eye and saw "APPROVED" thanked the lord above.I am sorry for the long post but a lost of my perseverence came from this website and the wonderful people here.

My scores in the beginning was eq 604 ex 600 trans 602........now eq 694 ex 688.......trans 690

your greatest asset is your ability to share your knowledge and past with others so we can all heed your wisdom and at the same time reach our goals more quickly.

That's a very positive and factual statement, smcc. Thanks for sharing with us and as I mentioned earlier, the purpose of this thread is to help develop hope for consumers who just started building credit or want to begin building credit.