Im a single mother of 2, with a horrible credit score. In the past I hire a company for debt consolidation, but it was a fraud (gibson co.) they never pay my creditors and I send them more that $ 4,000 . They declare bankruptcy after a while. I already consolidated those bills, now I have my car payment one major credit card with a balance of 600.00 that I have been paying on time and couple of clothing store ones, with a balance of 200. Each one, but my car payment has been late lately, because of my credit score the payment is a little too high, and I feel I do not know how to manage my checking account that many times is in negative balance and when my paycheck comes the bank take more than half of my salary, so that's the reason my payment is late. I would love to fix my credit so Ill be able to buy a house soon. So where do I start? Is lexington law a good co. to trust them? How long it will take?

Hello desi:

You can't repair bad credit. Even if you could challenge and win some of the entries, you'll never get them all, and your score won't improve.

The way to fix your credit, is to make all your payments on time. If you need to get another job in order to do that, then do that. If you need to balance your checkbook, do that too.

Look, if you don't want to do this stuff, it's OK with me. I'm not your mother.

excon

First NO NO NO, you don't need to buy anything, you need to get on a budge, and a checking account is not a endless well, you don't ever write a check unless there is money in there to cover the check, so there will be no bad check fees ever. That is just a stupid payment, giving money away.

Next there is no such thing as credit repair, it is even illegal to have such companies in many US states. And you can do free exactly what they do. You challenge any negative things on your credit report, if they do not respond to your challenge, it is suppose to be removed. If it is a valid debt and they respond, it cannot come off. No secret tricks

So you get to the point where you are ahead, and not making any late payments and over several years your credit improves.

If you feel unable to handle the finances by yourself, The only debt management company that I have any faith in is Consumer Credit Counseling Services. They are a true non profit.

I would not worry about credit score... you need to stop borrowing money. Pay off debt... get on a plan, a written budget (spending plan)... every dollar has a name... each month. Consolidation only moves debt, you need to pay debt off to win and get ahead. You can't buy a home until you can save 20% down... and with bad credit, you don't want to finance a home anyway, your interest rate will be very high. Got credit cards? Get rid of them. Cut them up and stop using them.

First get current with all your bills... then save $500 to $1000 for emergencies...

Follow the baby steps.

Dave Ramsey's Baby Steps

More links/help is in my sig. :)

There are ways to give yourself a little bump in credit scoring. If you have a friend or family member with good credit. They can add you as an authorized user to their credit card and not give you a card. This puts an account in good standing on your credit report and raises your score. The best thing to do though is to live within your means and pay off your debts this will give you the biggest bump.