When I was younger I really screwed up my credit. How to fix it?

Girl due 4.27.10: When I was younger I really screwed up my credit. How to fix it?
When I was 19 and 20 and first striking out on my own I neglected to pay a lot of bills. I am now 24, married pregnant, and much more mature and capable of handling money well, but I don’t have the credit score to prove it. As my mother’s friend (the vice president of a swiss bank) put it, I have a credit score “lower than a terrorists.” My husband has bad credit too and though we have been working very hard to pay off our debts we still cannot get approved for anything, not even a payment plan at the mechanics. I am really sick of this and I don’t know how to fix it. We have been paying on our debts, but that doesn’t seem to solve the problem and if nobody will give us credit I don’t know how to fix it.

Also, his parents have a worse credit history than us so they can’t cosign and my other WILL NOT cosign anything so I can’t get credit that way. Any advice on how to fix this?
*Mother, not other

Answers and Views:

Answer by Ash
Don’t ever pay minimum payments on things. I’d try to focus on one bill at a time to get them paid off. Like pay all the money youd pay on multiple things on one. like one month pay the 300 or so dollars youd pay making minimum payments on multiple credit cards on just one credit card. then the next month pay that on another card and so on.

Answer by shamrockluver
You can get a credit card where you pay a portion to them like a down payment to get started and use that card as you would a credit card, you have to pay it back like a credit card even though it is your money. Don’t go over your limit and always pay on time. You can build your credit that way, it takes a lot of patience to build your credit it won’t happen overnight. Sometimes it takes quite a while to prove your creditworthiness. ~Good Luck~

Answer by CatDad
Only the passing of time will heal the damage…There are no quick fixes for horrible credit…so don’t expect credit/financing anytime soon. As a general rule your credit will be really bad for at least 2 years from the date of your last major default or >90 late pay. After that time your credit score should start to go back up
– Stay out of further financial trouble. Each new default creates a brand new cycle of bad credit that will last another 2 years.
– To help build (or rebuild) a good credit history, it can be beneficial to get a secured credit card, the kind where you put up a security deposit and your credit limit is equal to that. Carry a small balance and pay it off over time. You can use this to gradually rebuild a history of on-time payments that will be reported to the credit bureaus. Your best bet is to get one through a credit union, as they have the best deals for secured cards.

Answer by Sharon T
Time and perseverance is what it takes. Unfortunately, it takes much longer to build it up than to tear it down. You’ll need to work on a cash basis, paying off your bills and building a savings account.

Usually this is a three-year plan. Set goals and work hard. Maybe you’ll be able to do it in less.

Answer by Clay
Сredit repair workеd fine to fix my credit. They disputed and removed lots of bad items from my credit report. I used this service – credit-report-free.totalh.com