Enjoyed reading through this post and everyone's insights.
Suggestion #1 - After you pay your debt down, don't cancel your credit cards because that will mess with your FICO score by lowering your Average Age of Accounts. Just put them in the sockdrawer and let your accounts age to build up good credit. Also, do 100% open up a charge card: its like a credit card but you pay the balance off every month - you get a bunch of travel benefits, extended warranty, refunds, etc. (look at Amex green) It will also prevent you from going into the red because you will know that you need to pay off the bill at the end of the month, and as a result you will always be careful about spending. It will force you to learn to manage your finances. Link the charge card card to pull the balance from your bank account at the end of each billing statement and treat it as a debit card. Then link the charge card up to mint.com to scrutinize your finances. Put all your spending through the card. This will also help you build up your credit which is probably not so great considering you had a lot of debt.
Suggestion #2 - I got into a dumb habit of spending my money on a lot of stuff that I did not need. Stuff that I wanted, but of course, stuff that I did not really NEED (new jeans, new tv, new mouse, plants for my house, food at whole foods instead of costco). To try to solve this problem, I decided that no matter what, I will put 1/3 of my pay check into savings, no discussions! However, I still found that I then pulled money back out of the savings account to pay for stuff. What I did to get back on track was the second that I got my paycheck I took 1/3 and locked that shit down into a CD for a minimum of 1 year. That way, I knew there was no way that I could touch it. Right now I have a LOT of CDs with a LOT of banks, but the amount of money I saved this way is very significant.
Suggestion #3. Join a credit union and stick with them - they will offer you the best rates on loans etc. In the future when you want to buy a car goto the credit union and set up your financing before you goto the dealership. Also note that a lot of credit unions have free counseling for finance management. I have never attended but I think it could be beneficial.
CD I recommend: https://personalsavings.americanexpress....gs-PS000CD (I love amex customer service, I think they are the best compared to all banks as they need to compensate with amazing service because they lack physical branches)
Charge card I recommend: https://www304.americanexpress.com/credit-card/green You may want to cancel this after the first year to avoid being hit by the annual fee, and then by then, once your credit is much better, get a better card.
Suggestion #1 - After you pay your debt down, don't cancel your credit cards because that will mess with your FICO score by lowering your Average Age of Accounts. Just put them in the sockdrawer and let your accounts age to build up good credit. Also, do 100% open up a charge card: its like a credit card but you pay the balance off every month - you get a bunch of travel benefits, extended warranty, refunds, etc. (look at Amex green) It will also prevent you from going into the red because you will know that you need to pay off the bill at the end of the month, and as a result you will always be careful about spending. It will force you to learn to manage your finances. Link the charge card card to pull the balance from your bank account at the end of each billing statement and treat it as a debit card. Then link the charge card up to mint.com to scrutinize your finances. Put all your spending through the card. This will also help you build up your credit which is probably not so great considering you had a lot of debt.
Suggestion #2 - I got into a dumb habit of spending my money on a lot of stuff that I did not need. Stuff that I wanted, but of course, stuff that I did not really NEED (new jeans, new tv, new mouse, plants for my house, food at whole foods instead of costco). To try to solve this problem, I decided that no matter what, I will put 1/3 of my pay check into savings, no discussions! However, I still found that I then pulled money back out of the savings account to pay for stuff. What I did to get back on track was the second that I got my paycheck I took 1/3 and locked that shit down into a CD for a minimum of 1 year. That way, I knew there was no way that I could touch it. Right now I have a LOT of CDs with a LOT of banks, but the amount of money I saved this way is very significant.
Suggestion #3. Join a credit union and stick with them - they will offer you the best rates on loans etc. In the future when you want to buy a car goto the credit union and set up your financing before you goto the dealership. Also note that a lot of credit unions have free counseling for finance management. I have never attended but I think it could be beneficial.
CD I recommend: https://personalsavings.americanexpress....gs-PS000CD (I love amex customer service, I think they are the best compared to all banks as they need to compensate with amazing service because they lack physical branches)
Charge card I recommend: https://www304.americanexpress.com/credit-card/green You may want to cancel this after the first year to avoid being hit by the annual fee, and then by then, once your credit is much better, get a better card.