How To Raise Your Credit Score
Having a bad credit can severely limit your options especially when you’re thinking of those dream purchases. Defaulted payments and a mountain of debt will either cause you to have real trouble securing credit which will lead to problems in the future, or will ultimately make you file for bankruptcy which will ruin your credit history with a big black permanent mark. Let’s talk about a few ways we can help bring up your credit score fairly with ease.
- Check your credit report. Mistakes happen and errors occur, so make sure that everything is in order before to try wrangling negotiations with your creditors.
- Don’t be hasty. Don’t file too many applications for credit too soon. Rushing will cause you to be sloppy and appear desperate. Space out applications and apply for credit that you are likely to get. Think it through and crunch your numbers.
- Show responsibility. Never max out your credit card. As difficult it may be limit the credit utilization to a bare minimum. Less than 30% but with a very limited credit limit less than 10% is recommended.
- Pay your bills, twice. Using too much of your credit looks bad to lender who is forever then hesitant due to your questionable reliability. To quickly rise your credit score pay your bill just before the statement closing date which will reduce the balance for your creditors to see and pay another just before the due date. This will protect you from interest and a late fee.
- Avoid cancellations. Do not cancel out your previous credit cards. Cancellations lower your credit which tends to reflect badly on you to your creditors and we’re trying to salvage your credit here aren’t we? A simple way to keep your card active is to pay recurring charges like your utility or phone bills.
- Become a buddy. If you are no longer able to get credit ask to become an authorized user on a credit card. A family member or a significant other might be able to help you out but be prepared to hear a big ‘NO’. Becoming an authorized use raising your credit score trust because you get credit for the whole account history not just from the point from which you are added on. Be sure not to rack up a huge bill on that account though. This will cause not only your credit score to fall but will also affect the primary card holder as they are held accountable.
- Open a new account. If you have low available credit and it’s difficult to get more then by strategically opening up a new account can increase your available credit limit. The key however is to keep the credit score but to curb the spending temptation.
- Consistency. By keeping the same job, having long term records with one single bank, owning property for a long period of time, having fixed landline rather than mobile lines all of these give the impression of stability to lenders and creditors. This can positively affect your profile as seen by your lender and in turn your credit score.