Secured Visa

I've mentioned before my want to get a secured Visa card to try and build some credit back with Visa. When I was younger and dumber I had some trouble with Visa which resulted in me losing the Visa, having a 90 day late payment on my credit history and having to buy myself out of collections in a hurry to stop it from also showing on my credit history at a rate of 36%. Crazy, right?! Yeah well... you live and you learn.

Now I feel I am older, wiser and ready to face the CC demon again in a more responsible manner and without the pressure from a stupid ex BF. I want this credit card for a variety of reasons.

• I want to start rebuilding credit
• I want to reestablish myself with Visa
• I would like to be able to use my credit card to reserve things, sell on Etsy.. etc
• I would want one in case of an extreme, EXTREME emergency where waiting for a bank transfer won't work. (Like medical, car breaks down in nowhereville, have to schedule emergency flight or whatever)

So the best option for me or anyone with little to no credit history or bad credit history is a secured credit card. This is also an option for persons who do not meet other credit card requirements such as level of income. So today I went online to find out more through CIBC. This is the statement I found:

At CIBC, we understand that establishing a credit history is important. Your credit history is a record of your past borrowing and repayment. This information is used by lenders, such as credit card companies, to determine your means and ability to repay debts.

If you have recently immigrated to Canada and don’t have the credit history or employment income required for a credit card, we can help. A secured CIBC VISA Card allows you the convenience and security of a credit card without the credit history and employment income usually required.

A secured VISA Card requires a security deposit equal to the value of the credit card limit. The deposit is placed in a CIBC interest-bearing savings investment, so your money grows while you establish your credit rating.

That really was not enough information for me so I decided to call the toll free number to find out more. I spoke to a really nice gentlemen who gave me all the info I wanted even though this is a service only available by going directly into your local branch. So here it is in a nutshell:

• A deposit is required for the amount you which to have available on your credit. (Ei- You need a $500 limit.. you put $500 down. You want $1000... you pay a $1000 deposit)
• The deposit is held in an interest bearing savings account for a duration of 25 months
• After the 25 month "graduation" period you are sent a letter of notification at which point you will have your deposit returned to you with interest. The stipulations are removed from the card and you will have a regular Visa (Classic for CIBC).
• There is no credit check, just basic info needs to be provided
• If there are any problems such as late payments or such behavior the 25 month "graduation" period will be extended.

So I definitely doing this. I'm just wondering how soon I can get the deposit together. I think I will just do the $500 down but I want to ask if I can extend my limit by placing an additional deposit down the road and whether that would change the "graduation" date.

Dolly Iris and Credit Cards

Let me tell you something people...... credit cards can either work for you or against you. I personally believe that everyone should do their research and understand how credit cards work and what a big responsibility they are before getting one. Especially 19 yr old babies......

I learned this lesson the hard way. My sister told me how easy it was to get a credit card by applying online and even helped me do it on her computer. Two weeks later mine arrived in the mail. It was red and shiny and it had a $500 limit. I believe I was 19 at the time and thought it was such an accomplishment to have my first Visa.

At first I was great with it. I had a great paying job and limit was appropriate for my usage. I would purchase everything on my credit card and every payday I would just pay it off. I really had no idea how credit worked or how to take care of it but luckily I was doing just great. My credit card and I were like two peas in a pod.

Then I fell for a boy who was no good for me in many ways. I left my job and followed him to Alberta. We couldn't pay for thing when we first got there and he convinced me that if we could only put things on my card for a little bit he would find a job and pay me back right away. The blind fool that I was called the Visa company and asked if they could up my limit. They said "no problem" and offered me an additional $4500.

Wow! I thought this was incredible and I felt very proud of myself (eyes rolling now) but something in me was telling me to be cautious. So I agreed to up my limit by $2000 making it a total limit of $2500. I told the boy it was all they would offer.

Long story short Boy was a jerk and left me the majority of the debt I had. I'm taking took me for every penny and then some. I do still have some promisary notes from him but whats the use? The guys a bum and I would never see a dime.

For years I paid the minimum and just above because its all I could afford and I didnt understand why it wasn't even making a dent in my balance. It seemed like all my payments were eaten up. I was always borrowing from Peter to pay Paul and it was a very stressful way to live. Everywhere I went ... debt followed.

Finally one year I moved multiple times in a short time frame and had a lot of stress happening in my life.... yes even more stress. A lot of things slipped my mind. One day I went to the bank machine to discover all my money was gone... including money I had put in for my student loans. I ran into the bank scared and asked what was happening. All they could tell me was that somebody in the Yukon had drained all my accounts... or what little was in them. They couldnt tell me anymore until they did an investigation.

Well it didnt take long to find out my Visa company which was also my personal bank had claimed every red cent to my name. I cried and they gave me some of the NSF charges back from my student loan bouncing and helped me put through a payment to them without it being snatched up.

The collection company was horrific. The things that man said to me were horrible and quite inappropriate. I had been in collections before due to the famous boy and knew that this was unacceptable. I was so upset because I didnt want my credit to be hurt anymore than it already was so I tried to get a loan to get myself out of collections before it hit my credit report.

In the end I did get a loan..... at a whopping 36%. I nearly cried. I got three jobs and slept approximately 4 hours a day. I ended up with a 90 day late payment mark on my credit report and was no better off than before.

One day last I did the math and realized I was paying approximately $10 a day in interest for all my loans. I nearly fell over. That meant that everyday I woke up on this planet I was shelling out $10 a day to nothing... just throwing it away. This was a real wake up call.

I got serious about debt. My new super fabulous boyfriend was very supportive and knew I had a big load on my shoulders. I opened up completely about my debt and showed him all my paperwork. He helped me by setting up Excel spreed sheets for my debts. I loved being able to plug extra payment numbers in here and there and watch the way it shed away the months and years of debt doom. This was the big realization for me.

Last year I managed to pay off that ridiculous loan and hopefully built some good credit doing so. This year I plan to become debt free by paying off my student loans. One should be paid off next week. *does happy dance

Now I have no credit cards and I'm fine with it. After all my debt is paid off I will apply for another one to start building credit again. I'm pretty sure my credit has been improving but even if I get a secured credit card I'm okay with that. This time I'm fully educated about credit cards lol. Hey, you have to laugh about these things... cant cry forever about it.

The moral of the story is if you don't have the money to pay off your credit card don't use it. The other moral is bad boys equals no good ANYTHING.