It can be stressful to deal with having a bad credit score. It is especially frustrating when you are haunted by bad decisions from your past. Rebuilding your credit is a challenging process, but it can be done. Read on for some tips that can help.
If you have to improve your credit, make a solid plan and follow it. You must make a commitment to making changes on how you spend money. Only purchase something if you cannot live without it. Ask yourself how necessary each purchase is, and how affordable it is too. If you can’t answer “yes” to each of the questions above, you need to reconsider the purchase.
Pay down the balance on any credit card that is 50% or more of the credit limit. Once your balance reaches 50%, your rating starts to really dip. At that point, it is ideal to pay off your cards altogether, but if not, try to spread out the debt.
By maintaining a good credit score, you can decrease your interest rate. This will help you afford your payments, and get out of debt quickly. Make sure to use a company that gives you the best rates so your bill isn’t being built up by money you haven’t even spent.
Credit Score
You can easily get a mortgage if you have a high credit score. Staying current with your mortgage payments is a way to raise your credit score even more. Owning a home shows financial stability, which is great for your credit. Having a good credit score is a key factor if you ever need to take out a loan.
An installment account is a great way to increase your credit score. When opening an installment account, you need to make a monthly payment, so get something you can afford. You can quickly improve your score by successfully managing these accounts.
Any company or credit counselor that claims they can erase all negative reports from your credit history should be viewed with some skepticism. These bad marks stay on your record for seven years or more. Incorrect information may be erased though.
Start paying on bills to help your credit. Your bills must be paid completely and on time. Once you have started to pay towards your past-due accounts, you credit score will gradually improve.
Work with the companies to whom you owe money to get your debt back under control. When you work with company you are not working against anyone, including yourself. This will help prevent furthering yourself into debt. See if the company will allow you to modify the monthly due date, or reduce the payments.
Joining a credit union is beneficial if you want to make your credit score better but cannot get new credit. They have opportunities that other banks can’t match since they are local, and don’t have to follow some of the same regulations.
If you see any erroneous information on your credit report, file a dispute so you can have the information removed. Compose a letter of dispute to every agency that reported errors, and include as much documentation as you can. Mail the materials and ask the postal service for proof of delivery in order to build a record to show that the agency did indeed get the letter.
Credit Card
Look through your credit card statement each month and make sure that it is correct. Contact the credit card company right away if there are incorrect fees, so that they won’t be on your credit report.
If at all possible, avoid filing bankruptcy. This will show up on your credit for around 10 years. Bankruptcy not only zeros out your debt, it also zeros out your credit score. Filing bankruptcy makes it difficult if not impossible to get anything involving credit, like credit cards and loans, in the future.
This advice can help you to turn your credit score around. Most importantly, you want to have a consistent plan and stick to your commitments. It is possible to make your credit better, so don’t delay and get to it!
