Jill recently got a divorce after eight years of marriage. Because she never liked to take care of the family finances, she let her husband handle the money, and unbeknownst to her, he charged up $12,000 on their credit cards to pay some bills she mistakenly thought they had more than enough money in income to cover. They were also several months behind on their house payment.
Now, in addition to being on her own, Jill is working to rebuild her credit score. When she attempted to open credit cards in her own name, she was declined due to her poor credit thanks to her husband’s mismanagement of their money and her limited income without her husband’s salary. While Jill acknowledges she is partly responsible for the situation because she was not involved with the family finances, she is still frustrated that she cannot move on financially on her own.
Unfortunately, Jill’s case is not an isolated one. Many married couples find themselves dealing with some form of financial infidelity whether it is running up credit cards to pay bills, as Jill’s husband did or using credit cards to shop or gamble as others do, or for many other reasons.
If you are newly divorced or still married and facing financial infidelity, there are ways to get back on your feet despite bad credit. In Jill’s case, the first step should be to open a secured credit card. Secured credit cards such as the Orchard Bank credit card fill a niche need of dealing with those consumers with no credit or bad credit.
Jill is not a bad consumer; she was simply an uninformed wife. Now, she can put down a refundable deposit, say $350, which also doubles as her credit limit. By responsibly using her secured credit card and not going over her limit, she should begin to slowly improve her credit score, and in a few years, she should be able to also open a traditional credit card in her own name.
Guest Post by Melissa
