Posted on April 9, 2008 at 2:09 pm Hi All,I graduated college 2 years ago- where I messed up my credit immensely (or so I keep hearing.) I was getting calls from collection agencies, stuffing bills in my drawers, and not wanting to deal with it - looking back at it, I know what a bad idea it was, but I had no way to pay with it and didn't want to deal with it.I now have a job where I can absolutely begin to pay back these debts- but I have no idea where to start. I owe $1400 to what was originally a $500 credit to Bank of America. I finally started opening bills, and saw one of the collection agencies offering me to settle for almost $900 below what I owe. However, it was past the due date at that point and once I called the collection agency, it said my account had been passed off to another collection agency.I also owe a little bit over $400 to my old apartment complex- which has also been passed off to a collection agency. Finally, I recently learned that I owed a mere $26 to Victoria's Secret from nearly a year and a half ago, which I already went ahead and paid off last week.Other than that, I have had student loans which I have been paying on time for well over a year now and are in good standing. But don't have any other lines of credit.What I would like to know is if your debt is passed on to another collection agency, will they typically agree to the settled amount with the previous company? As well, what is the difference between paying the settled amount and paying in full? Will doing one vs. the other improve my credit score or does it not matter?Another question, which debt should I pay off first? The old bank of america debt or the one to my old apartment? Finally, where can I start to improve my credit? Would a secured card be a good idea, if so from which companies? Is there a way to remove any of these charges from the report?Any help is greatly appreciated !

Posted on April 10, 2008 at 9:05 pm That for most people is when bad credit begins,You usually get numerous amounts of credit card offers when you first step out of highschool. To most kids, it like free money but I think that if they were better informed on what they were getting themselves into, most people would be in better shape. Even though I think that we would still opt to take the "free money."

Posted on October 23, 2008 at 4:34 am To improve your credits you can start with a new credit card with a small limit or a small loan. Make sure to pay all your bills and dues on time. Learn to live on cash.

Posted on October 23, 2008 at 11:12 am Jennifer, I have the perfect solution for you. Its called a Debt Mangement Program. It is a program created by creditors themselves to recapture their principle balance, instead of risking loosing it. The program is designed for you to get out of your debt 75% faster by eliminating the majority of interest and late/overlimit fees on these accounts, plus it will help your score since most creditors will report the account in good standing once they see you are on the DMP. With only one simple payment, all your creditors are paid and you can take better control of you financial situation. Understand this is not loan I am talking about, getting in more debt to pay off debt is not smart. This is a simple efficient way of getting rid of your unsecured debt which most people dont know about.

Posted on November 1, 2008 at 2:34 pm Well, first off.  You have to figure out the totals of your debts and who currently owns them.  This will probably take a lot of phone calls and a lot of frustration!  You would think that these people would be more helpful, but you have to remember, once they sell your debt to someone else they no longer are in need of you.Now, once you have all of the information, try and see if there are any that would be easily paid off.  Much as you did with Victoria's Secret.  If there are not any debts like that, get on the phone with the companies again and work out payments.  If you owe $5000, offer to pay something like at least $250 a month (while paying off anything over that, that you can afford!).Please keep in mind that a Debt Management Program kills your credit much like bankruptcy does.  If you are to the point where you do not think it will effect you much, or you are not looking to take on debt (car, house) this option will be a valid one.  I just don't want people to unknowingly ruin there decent credit by taking this easy, 'here you do it' approach to managing your debt.Good luck!  I'm sure once we all get out from under our debt we will be much happier and better off!

Posted on December 16, 2008 at 5:38 pm The biggest thing is knowing what the damage is before it can be handled.  Like mentioned before in the previous email find out what your debts are secured and unsecured.  If you can live off of cash it is indeed the best thing to do.  Dave Ramsey has a great book called the, "Total Money Makeover."  It advised readers that debts should be handled from the smallest to the largest (a reverse snowball effect).  As your debts get settled one by one it improves your debt to income ratio (DTI).  DTI makes up around 30-35% of how your credit score is compromised.  In addition if you do go through a Settlement company it does have a negative effect.  This effect last through the duration you are in the program.  So if you are in a 36 month program your credit is going to be impacted throughout that duration.  Credit is repairable.  With any company settlement or credit repair agencies you want to do research on them and make sure they are credible.

Posted on April 9, 2009 at 9:08 am you can ask from any consllr he give u a good ways to keep out of it...

Posted on April 9, 2009 at 10:44 am If you can apply to a new credit card, then good, now to start training your credit now

Posted on April 9, 2009 at 11:03 am yes

Posted on April 9, 2009 at 11:05 am than q2