Introduction

  I am writing this blog to try to inform everyone of the different avenues I have traveled on my journey to repairing my credit and gaining financial independence.

   Let me begin by introducing myself and the situation which I had allowed myself to allow my finances to become.
  I am not the most educated individual, nor do I have any degrees or formal training in the financial arena. I have a GED education and dropped out of high school in the tenth grade. I have launched several attempts at being self employed, some more successful than others. I have done things in which I am not especially proud of to keep myself and my family fed and sheltered. I have also been homeless, broke and hungry. I have worked day labor positions to try to achieve gainful employment, as well as doing jobs that were just plain disrespectful. I have lived on the streets (literally sleeping in bushes, eating at soup kitchens, etc.). I have been married five times before finding the woman I am now convinced is the final love of my life.
  Although I have found myself at the bottom of life's valleys, I never gave up on the belief that GOD has more in store for me than what I was trying to accomplish on my own. When I finally completely gave my life to Christ was when I began to see considerable changes take place in my life situations.
  Through the years I have suffered with drug addictions, loneliness, alcoholism, poverty, and depression. I have said goodbye to friends and family that I thought would always be there for me as my anchor. I have also had family turn their backs on me because they either were at a point where they had simply given up on me, or because I had quit trying to guide them and they didn't want to listen. As I said in the beginning, I don't have any formal training in the financial arena and they didn't believe that I could possibly even have a plan.
  It has been a long and stressful journey to accomplish the results which I am currently experiencing. Although I still have a considerable distance to go I wanted to start this blog to be able to document the steps that I have taken to get where I am as well as to invite others to follow along with me and see if some of the steps I have taken can help them to achieve their goals as well.

  When I started this journey I basically had very little to start with. I was trying to overturn a decision on Social Security, living with my girlfriend and her children, and trying to etch out some sort of an income. I was doing handyman work wherever I could find it, helping friends with side-work that they needed assistance with, and doing things that turned out to have legal repercussions.

  When I started to try to establish some sort of credit my beacon score was below 500 and since I had no documented source of income it wasn't going to be easy. I had not realized that it was credit, not cash that makes the world an easier place. I was behind on my child support payments and barely had a drivers license. It had been suspended a few times due to failure to pay child support. I spent most of my days and nights wondering what could possibly go wrong next.

 I started out by applying  for secured credit cards that required me to put money in an account before I could use the card. This is probably the lowest form of credit that can be achieved. These cards are plagued with high transaction fees and maintenance fees. Although these seem like a terrible option for many, it is basically a building block.

  Building credit is a long and treacherous journey and will not be achieved overnight. Sometimes , as is my case, it will take several years to accomplish. You just have to have faith that the view at the top is worth the climb. The length of the journey will depend on how far in the hole you are before you begin as well as other factors. At the beginning of my journey I was about as far in the hole as I could dig and still be able to see the light as a speck in the distance.

  I'm sure there are easier ways to achieve great success at building your credit, but, if you have to do it without the assistance of co-signers, collateral, and several years of employment it can be a struggle. The best thing I can advise you is to construct a plan and keep your eye on the end goal....not the struggle. Be sure to stay persistent to achieving your goal. Turn to GOD or whatever you pray to for guidance, and always have faith that you are doing the right thing. Never give up ! If you encounter an obstacle you can either view it as a learning experience, or as a reason to explore other options that have presented themselves. Always try to ask for assistance from the people involved in the obstacle.

  No-one wants to see you struggle ! Although it may seem at times that everyone is against you, there is virtually no-one that wants to see you struggle. Everyone will want to give you advice as to what you might try next if you just ask. When you show the ambition to continue to achieve, they will generally be more than ambitious to help you. As Oprah once said " if you believe, then you can achieve !". I also believe that as long as you are confident in yourself, then you will be unstoppable.

  Your current situation is not your final destination ! No matter where you are in your life, it is up to you to change the demographics. If you are not happy in your current situation then it is up to you to change it. There is no such thing as a fairy godmother that will come along and change your situation. These are only in fables and fictitious story books. You can't just click your heels together or repeat a saying into a mirror for your life to change. You have to lace up your work boots, put on your big girl panties and face the challenge with a never say die attitude.

  I also want to express that my accomplishments are just that, mine. I don't claim to know all the answers, or that following my advice will achieve the same results. All I can assure you is that I will explain the steps I took as accurately as possible.