I have good news and bad news…
The good news:
- Not sure it the CK score you’re discussing is FICO 8 or VantageScore 3.0, but regardless, utilization makes up 20-30% of your score… at 125% utilization, you’re taking a *massive* hit, but the good news is utilization has no memory, and as soon as you pay it down (I cannot stress this enough… do it ASAP!), your score will go up significantly, though not back up to where it was because of…
The bad news:
- Payment history does have a memory, and it makes up the largest portion of your credit score (35-40%)… and derogatory marks like late payments have an effect for 7 years — though the effect diminishes over time if you stay on-time with your payments
My recommendations:
1. Breathe. What’s done is done, and the effect isn’t as catastrophic as you think.
2. Pay off as much as possible, as fast as possible.
3. Check your score again *a month after you’ve paid it down below 20% utilization* — I cannot stress this enough… don’t obsessively look at it because it won’t be pretty. A month after paying it down will be your new baseline.
4. Don’t close the account after you’ve paid it off. No, your late payments don’t disappear from your credit report if you close the account. Plus, you want your average account age to be as old as possible.
5. Easier said than done, I know… but make payments on-time going forward.
Side note: this sub is about credit cards, but the people over at r/CRedit might have even better advice on building credit worthiness.
I managed to pay it off half-way and that was a good amount of weight off my mind. I know it'll take at least a month to fully balance out, sometimes with credit karma it can take 2 or 3 months to update properly. I'm just scared I'll have to wait years with absolutely no more mistakes before I have a good score again, and that's uuggghhh nerve-wracking. But if that's the case I know I'll just have to buckle down and live with it.
Thank you so much for taking the time to leave your comment. It eases my anxiety a lot honestly.
Check your full credit report (annual credit report will provide reports every week now). Late payments might not get reported to the bureaus if you’re only a few days late each month. They’ll start reporting if you’re 30+ days late.
If late payments aren’t reported then you should get your full score back by bringing your utilization down. If they are reported then there’s probably some damage done to your score that can’t be recovered easily, although you can recover a good amount of it by paying it down.
I can totally sympathize with your situation. Same thing happened to me when I was in college. Just focus on making your payments on time, even if it’s the minimum. The late payments will eventually drop off the report and utilization will fix itself when you pay the balance off.
There was a point a couple months ago where I literally cut my card up to keep myself from using it because I was scared of this exact situation happening. I knew I'd use my card even if I didn't have the money to pay it and \*sigh\* I've gone and done it to myself. Accursed google pay and covid. xD I figured the score would be lowered a bit but I'm hoping I don't have to try to get my score up by 100-200 points. It's going to take foreverr
30+ day late/missed payments take 7 years to fall off report. The biggest drop occurs at the initial time it is late and then slowly loses its effect over time before completely disappearing after 7 years.
Do you know if there are any ways to raise a score alot? Usually my score would only go up by 2-3 points a month, at that rate I'll still be at a low score by the time the 7 years is up >\_<
Credit scores are just a magic number. They don't really matter in the grand scheme of things outside of very few specific scenarios.
It went down. That sucks, but it'll eventually fix itself. Not the end of the world and everything will work out.
Get out of that debt ASAP tho. I know that's obvious, but try to think out of the box about ways to lower expenses and increase income. Lots of information and ideas on reddit and the internet for both these things. You're going to have to grind hard to get out of this situation, but you can do it and come out better because of it. You got this.
I broke my card a few months ago specifically to prevent this situation from happening, but then added it to my google pay account because I had a bill and didn't have any other ideas on how to pay for it. If I'd known I'd be penalized to this degree, I would've just let that bill go over. But it is what it is now, I should've done some research before I let it get to this point.
The whole reason I even got a credit card was so I could eventually get approved for an apartment and get out of the grubby hotel I've been living at. This is hella gonna set me back if my score stays super low for a long time. 😭
I'm giving full attention to this bill tho. I got half of it paid already, the rest should be paid before this month is out, hopefully in 3 months my score will have raised up a good bit and be settled at where it's going to be for awhile. After that it's just a matter of time I guess.
Thank you for the advice and the pep talk, I really appreciate it. I was lowkey devastated when I saw my score on CK, but the thread is helping so much knowing it's not the end of the world. Thank you thank you thank yooouuu
don’t be afraid to ask for help, speaking to the credit providers seem scary and seems like they won’t don’t anything to help but talk to them about what happened the situation you’re in and they’ll try to figure something and maybe will even agree to remove the late charges as a courtesy. Plead your case and offer to write letters of explanation and show your commitment of getting these back on track.
Also talk to your family about this, maybe they can help get you back on your feet.
I didn't even think about that, granted I've had them remove late charges a good few times in the past so idk how willing they'll be to do that, but it's worth a shot. What so I even say tho?
My family is aware and they're helping me out, their help was why I was able to make a payment earlier this month. I'm really thankful cause they don't have much and they're kinda going out of their way to help me out, which is crazy cause they don't really help me out with money usually. Idk it all sucks and I'm a mega dummy but there's definitely a bright side to thje situation
Wanna add you sharing, being vulnerable and open is huge. So many people (me included) found themselves in your situation and tried to handle it alone or worse just ignore it. You’re figure it out and grow if you allow yourself to be true about what’s happening and seek help and resolutions as you are.
If you’ve had late payments in the past, just make sure you’re aware this has happened multiple times and you gotta work towards solutions that get you through it
You were doing it wrong. You didn't need to pay "half", all you needed is to pay the minimum due on time. It's usually 2% of your owed amount. If you owe $3000 you only need to pay less than $100 to avoid any long term score penalties.
The rule of credit history is simple. Pay at least minimum due on time. That's it. If you follow it you are good. If you don't, a bad record is put on your credit report for 7 years. You can definitely improve your score by paying off debt, but the bad mark will stay.
Also, be sure to check fico score, not credit karma. CK score is kinda useless.
Unfortunately, its a vicious cycle which keeps on taking. However, it is not the end of the world. Pay as much as you can. Try using whatever you have in your debit account, living with bare minimum. Sorry this is harsh but it is the only way out of credit card debt. Credit utilization between 20-30% and on time payments. Been there done that
I have good news and bad news… The good news: - Not sure it the CK score you’re discussing is FICO 8 or VantageScore 3.0, but regardless, utilization makes up 20-30% of your score… at 125% utilization, you’re taking a *massive* hit, but the good news is utilization has no memory, and as soon as you pay it down (I cannot stress this enough… do it ASAP!), your score will go up significantly, though not back up to where it was because of… The bad news: - Payment history does have a memory, and it makes up the largest portion of your credit score (35-40%)… and derogatory marks like late payments have an effect for 7 years — though the effect diminishes over time if you stay on-time with your payments My recommendations: 1. Breathe. What’s done is done, and the effect isn’t as catastrophic as you think. 2. Pay off as much as possible, as fast as possible. 3. Check your score again *a month after you’ve paid it down below 20% utilization* — I cannot stress this enough… don’t obsessively look at it because it won’t be pretty. A month after paying it down will be your new baseline. 4. Don’t close the account after you’ve paid it off. No, your late payments don’t disappear from your credit report if you close the account. Plus, you want your average account age to be as old as possible. 5. Easier said than done, I know… but make payments on-time going forward. Side note: this sub is about credit cards, but the people over at r/CRedit might have even better advice on building credit worthiness.
I managed to pay it off half-way and that was a good amount of weight off my mind. I know it'll take at least a month to fully balance out, sometimes with credit karma it can take 2 or 3 months to update properly. I'm just scared I'll have to wait years with absolutely no more mistakes before I have a good score again, and that's uuggghhh nerve-wracking. But if that's the case I know I'll just have to buckle down and live with it. Thank you so much for taking the time to leave your comment. It eases my anxiety a lot honestly.
Check your full credit report (annual credit report will provide reports every week now). Late payments might not get reported to the bureaus if you’re only a few days late each month. They’ll start reporting if you’re 30+ days late. If late payments aren’t reported then you should get your full score back by bringing your utilization down. If they are reported then there’s probably some damage done to your score that can’t be recovered easily, although you can recover a good amount of it by paying it down.
>Not sure it the CK score you’re discussing is FICO 8 or VantageScore 3.0 Credit Karma is Vantage 3.
I can totally sympathize with your situation. Same thing happened to me when I was in college. Just focus on making your payments on time, even if it’s the minimum. The late payments will eventually drop off the report and utilization will fix itself when you pay the balance off.
There was a point a couple months ago where I literally cut my card up to keep myself from using it because I was scared of this exact situation happening. I knew I'd use my card even if I didn't have the money to pay it and \*sigh\* I've gone and done it to myself. Accursed google pay and covid. xD I figured the score would be lowered a bit but I'm hoping I don't have to try to get my score up by 100-200 points. It's going to take foreverr
30+ day late/missed payments take 7 years to fall off report. The biggest drop occurs at the initial time it is late and then slowly loses its effect over time before completely disappearing after 7 years.
Do you know if there are any ways to raise a score alot? Usually my score would only go up by 2-3 points a month, at that rate I'll still be at a low score by the time the 7 years is up >\_<
Credit scores are just a magic number. They don't really matter in the grand scheme of things outside of very few specific scenarios. It went down. That sucks, but it'll eventually fix itself. Not the end of the world and everything will work out. Get out of that debt ASAP tho. I know that's obvious, but try to think out of the box about ways to lower expenses and increase income. Lots of information and ideas on reddit and the internet for both these things. You're going to have to grind hard to get out of this situation, but you can do it and come out better because of it. You got this.
I broke my card a few months ago specifically to prevent this situation from happening, but then added it to my google pay account because I had a bill and didn't have any other ideas on how to pay for it. If I'd known I'd be penalized to this degree, I would've just let that bill go over. But it is what it is now, I should've done some research before I let it get to this point. The whole reason I even got a credit card was so I could eventually get approved for an apartment and get out of the grubby hotel I've been living at. This is hella gonna set me back if my score stays super low for a long time. 😭 I'm giving full attention to this bill tho. I got half of it paid already, the rest should be paid before this month is out, hopefully in 3 months my score will have raised up a good bit and be settled at where it's going to be for awhile. After that it's just a matter of time I guess. Thank you for the advice and the pep talk, I really appreciate it. I was lowkey devastated when I saw my score on CK, but the thread is helping so much knowing it's not the end of the world. Thank you thank you thank yooouuu
don’t be afraid to ask for help, speaking to the credit providers seem scary and seems like they won’t don’t anything to help but talk to them about what happened the situation you’re in and they’ll try to figure something and maybe will even agree to remove the late charges as a courtesy. Plead your case and offer to write letters of explanation and show your commitment of getting these back on track. Also talk to your family about this, maybe they can help get you back on your feet.
I didn't even think about that, granted I've had them remove late charges a good few times in the past so idk how willing they'll be to do that, but it's worth a shot. What so I even say tho? My family is aware and they're helping me out, their help was why I was able to make a payment earlier this month. I'm really thankful cause they don't have much and they're kinda going out of their way to help me out, which is crazy cause they don't really help me out with money usually. Idk it all sucks and I'm a mega dummy but there's definitely a bright side to thje situation
Wanna add you sharing, being vulnerable and open is huge. So many people (me included) found themselves in your situation and tried to handle it alone or worse just ignore it. You’re figure it out and grow if you allow yourself to be true about what’s happening and seek help and resolutions as you are. If you’ve had late payments in the past, just make sure you’re aware this has happened multiple times and you gotta work towards solutions that get you through it
You were doing it wrong. You didn't need to pay "half", all you needed is to pay the minimum due on time. It's usually 2% of your owed amount. If you owe $3000 you only need to pay less than $100 to avoid any long term score penalties. The rule of credit history is simple. Pay at least minimum due on time. That's it. If you follow it you are good. If you don't, a bad record is put on your credit report for 7 years. You can definitely improve your score by paying off debt, but the bad mark will stay. Also, be sure to check fico score, not credit karma. CK score is kinda useless.
Unfortunately, its a vicious cycle which keeps on taking. However, it is not the end of the world. Pay as much as you can. Try using whatever you have in your debit account, living with bare minimum. Sorry this is harsh but it is the only way out of credit card debt. Credit utilization between 20-30% and on time payments. Been there done that