My mother really needs to bring hers up because we need a new car and she's almost over her miles on a leased car. She had credit cards but doesn't use them anymore. From what I can make out through ramblings, she still owes them money. Not much, but still. She went to some credit counselor that was supposed to lower the interest rates and she gives them $200 a month to deal with her two credit cards. She has a mortgage and it has recently went up $300 and is now $800 due at the first of the month. She can't pay it on the first. She was hospitalized in November and missed weeks of work that has caused her to not be able to catch up on the mortgage payments. She's always one month behind. Her car note is $455. We have cell phones, but she only pays my bill, her fiance pay hers. (And his credit is not much better). I don't know the exact score because she will not let me check it even after I tell her that she needs to know it and the negative remarks if she wants to fix it. Brick wall.
Then there are bills like home phone, internet, cable and things that start to add up when your behind on the big stuff. She brings in less than $40,000 a year. Also, she does day-care through the county, but once the kids are 13, they are legally able to stay home alone and she's lost about $2,500 a month, which is a lot, esp. when you don't make much money in general.
She's considering dipping into her retirement fund and taking out what's left, $1,300 (she took some out a few years ago for HS tuition. I go to public schoool now BTW), to catch up and be even with her mortgage to bring her score up by Christmas. Is that a good idea?
Help? (She's gonna need her credit up when I go to college soon since I won't have any because I'll still be a minor)
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