getting started/a meme
Getting Started
Remember my best friend, Sistah Beginner? First, she’s looking for another job. She just got an offer that she’s prepared to take, but she’s been informed that they do background and credit checks. She’s hoping her credit won’t negatively affect her. Unlike another job she lost partially due to her bad credit, this is not a financial job. Her fear is that she takes the job, then they take it away from her due to her credit. I suggested that she try to negotiate a start date that will allow them time to finish their background check. She is also considering asking if subprime credit in the background check will be an issue. What do you think she should do? In any case, she won’t give notice on her current job until she’s sure she’ll be hired by the new one.
Also, she’s in the process of checking her credit. At my suggestion, she used annualcreditreport.com to get each of her three reports. Sistah Beginner already sees some problems. She was dismayed to discover that paying off a delinquent account doesn’t make it go away. Before Sis. B became a mom, she was paying off old delinquent accounts one-by-one. Apparently she thought negative history vanished after paying the accounts. Instead, the accounts are still visible - both the negative history (the account went delinquent) and positive history (later the account was paid as agreed). Her question is, "Well then, what’s the point of paying off the accounts?" I told her (and so did her brother, who’s a mortgage broker and checks folks’ credit regularly) that credit scores can’t tell the whole story, but a credit report can, and it’s good that people can see that she’s made the effort to settle her debts. As she looked through the reports, she realized this is going to be a longer journey than she otherwise thought. Her credit score is in the 500s. She owes something less than $10K in total. But making less than $30K a year, it’s gonna be a long road - she’s right. I suggested Single Ma as a resource, and CreditBoards.com. Her brother suggested that she get an agency involved to do the work for her, but I cautioned her that she also has the option of doing this herself for free.
Thing is, she wants to get her credit at least worthy of getting another car in less than a year. Her current car is problematic and she needs reliable transportation to and from work. She thinks that maybe an agency can help her get things cleaned up quicker, as her brother suggests. What do you think? I’ll pass all suggestions directly on to Sistah Beginner. I’m not the best resource, because I’ve never had to do this for myself before.
Meme
I’ve been tagged by Ms. Fabulous to share seven random facts about myself, so here goes:
I looooove peanut butter / I’m scared of roller coasters / I once played hooky from a previous job for no reason and I wound up painting watercolor flowers that I wound up framing / I wear a size nine shoe / I’ve never left American soil / My honey and I met in person - no sparks - but we were intrigued by each other online - so when we met in person for the "first" time after becoming online friends, we realized that we already had been introduced / I have pierced ears but no tattoos
I tag no one. Whoever wants to may surely join the fun, though!
