Wednesday, August 26, 2015

How many credit cards are needed to rebuild credit?


One could argue that my former bankruptcy was or wasn't my fault exactly.

I started building credit from the age of 18 or 19 until age 28 or 29. I had top-tier credit with an amazing FICO. My parents were too broke in my earlier years to take care of my dental stuff, so I put a bunch of dental work on credit cards with the intent to pay it down. Obviously, the interest killed me. I did a Chapter 7 around the middle of last year when it seemed impossible to pay and the companies wouldn't work with me. I have since gained a Barclaycard Rewards Platinum MasterCard ($1,500 credit limit) and a Capital One Platinum MasterCard ($3,000 credit limit), none of which were the former discharged companies.

I'm keeping those under control, have found a new job and I also make considerably more money - about 3 times what I did last year. I know that the Chapter 7 stays on the credit report for 7-10 years… But my score is actually improving considerably from when I first filed.

Will this be sufficient to build my credit back up over the time? I have been paying on the Capital One for about a year now (charge something, pay it… Charge something, pay it) and the Barclaycard for several months less than that. I won't be getting a mortgage or anything, and actually don't want one.
Added (1). I was asking this question because I hope to use these two credit cards to build my credit up really well and eventually try to get just one of the top-tier credit cards with the lowest interest rate. When I do, I'll drop these two cards and keep that one. I just wasn't sure how many would be needed to build it up at a proper rate.

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