Please bear with me; I'm sort of scared and I may ramble. Thanks in advance for reading.
I have finally, at 36 years old, decided to actually deal with my money situation. I know I should not have waited so long, and it fills me with crippling anxiety daily.
My situation: I went to college on a series of scholarships and federal loans. I could not get a job in my field until several months after graduation, and having an on-campus job I had to give up after graduation, being rurally isolated, and being plain ragged stupid meant I was making no money for six months.
Obviously, student loans came calling for repayment immediately. I was very stupid and scared, and didn't pay them -- not that I had anything to pay them with. Even when I started working in a low-pay entry level position, I could barely pay rent.
Wage garnishment followed for several years, of course. I went through a lot of phone calls that terrified me, a few settlements, etc.
In all this, I have never had a credit card. My last loan was an auto loan in 2008, from my local-yokel bank that I've had accounts with since I was a kid (meaning they probably didn't even check my credit). I discharged the loan years ago.
But still the specter of student loans was there. It's been 13 years since graduation, and I realize how utterly dumb I've been. First step was admitting it. The next step was facing up to the credit score, which I was sure would be abysmal. But it's like that nagging pain in your chest -- just because you don't go to the doctor to get it checked, it doesn't mean there isn't a problem.
So I checked it...and it doesn't exist. I have no credit score.
All the bills I pay (on time, always) are in my husband's name. I'm not even listed on our mortgage because I was so afraid my debt would put the house in jeopardy.
So, questions:
Shouldn't I have a score -- even a super terrible one? Why or why not?
My debts have been sold off, fractioned, etc. since graduation. How do I track down what I still might owe? I can't pay it if I don't figure out where it is. I don't get bills anymore, but occasionally I get collection calls, which I check into before paying off.
If I start building credit now (through one of the very well-explained options in the sidebar, thank you so much) is it going to cause a problem?
Thanks forever from the bottom of my heart for your help. It's a small relief to be starting this. It'll be an intense relief to fix it.
Submitted October 11, 2017 at 08:51AM by ThreeSheetzToTheWind http://ift.tt/2ygvPwW
