I had suffered from having bad credit for 23 years. In 1996, I got divorced and was 23 years old. I found myself left with all the debt accumulated from the marriage. My ex had the car refinanced to his name because I did not have a job and I found myself living with friends and relatives paying minimal rent and going from job to job without direction. I was heartbroken and confused.

I could not get financed for a car, I could not get a decent apartment because of the high deposit requirement due to my 400+ credit score. I had lived life with a three page collection list on my credit. They all just fell off my credit report after nine years and yet, I still had bad credit. That was because every time I applied for a loan I was denied because I had a “thin file”, meaning, my credit history did not have enough revolving accounts or current open accounts to show a good payment history.

So where does one begin if no one gives them a chance to start over? Now I was 46 and still had bad credit even after 23 years! Like I said, I was so used to it that I could not even imagine what people with good credit feel like nor did I have any idea how much better my lifestyle would be if I had good credit.

Finally, in 2018, I built up the courage to ask a family friend if he would let me piggy-back off his good credit. He agreed to help me. I told him I do not want access to his credit cards, all I ask is to add me as an “authorized user” to some of his high credit limit accounts and I can start building good credit as well.

I opened several bank accounts with the minimum $25 requirement and in 2019 one of those banks approved me for a secured card for $200! I used the card a little and made payments on it twice a month and sometimes even 3x to show good payment history. By May 2019, I had shown good payment history, along with the credit boost from my friend. To my surprise, I immediately got an ‘APPROVED’ reply on an online application from the same bank with the secured card.

I had never been approved for that much credit before so I had to video myself reading the ‘APPROVED’ on the computer screen over and over. When I got the card in the mail I wanted to keep it in a safe place like a treasure.

I share this story because I had read The Secret, Hero, The Magic, and The Power over and over again but I had forgotten that every thought and every desire that I attach an emotion to, is the thought that will likely manifest. I had been so busy fixing my life and my finances with a downtrodden attitude that I forgot that a switch in my emotion is The Magic! When I built up the courage and to be so humble to ask for help and be happy that there was someone willing to help, my financial status began to change and now I can start imagining a good life again. Actually, I can feel now how my lifestyle would change for the better, as I continue on this path of having a great credit history.

Thank you!