Improving Your Credit Score the Easy Way
Posted at by ifydcat on category CreditYou’re expecting to purchase something bit soon. A house or a car would fit the description. Could it be the big screen television you’d had your eye on for awhile? No matter what it is, you’ll need to be able to finance it. One of the most negative experiences a consumer can have is getting rejected for a loan or credit card as a result of poor credit.
A credit score under 620 will make it very difficult for you to find someone willing to lend you month in any capacity. You can very easily work to improve a score under 620, though.
The first thing you should do is request a copy of your credit report, so you’ll know what your score is. Your credit report also shows all the lines of credit you have open. This is a great way to see what might be affecting your credit, as well as checking for instances of identity theft. All you have to do is look for lines of credit you didn’t open and dispute the charges, if any have been left unpaid. If successful, this will go a long way to improving your credit score.
Next, if you have the means to do so, pay down some of your highest balances on credit cards. Many people make the mistake of only making minimum payments. With interest rates increasingly in the 30% range, however, interest adds up quickly. Don’t fall into the trap of only making minimum, double digit payments on three or four digit balances. There’s no quicker way to see your credit card balance get out of control than only paying the minimums. Plus, keeping your credit card balances below one-third of your credit limit on each card goes a long way to improving your credit score.
Lastly, the older your credit history, the stronger it looks from a lender’s perspective. If you have old credit cards you haven’t used for a long time, however, you may not receive credit for your full history of on-time and responsible payments. After awhile, old, out of use credit card accounts stop being shown on your credit report. If they’re not shown there, it’s as if they never existed at all to lenders. Putting a small balance on old cards is consequently yet another sure-fire way to improve your credit.
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