Improve Credit Score

How to Improve Credit Score

Almost everyone who has ever used credit, whether you’re a single woman with an entry level salary, a five person family with two incomes, or a married couple with two mortgages, all people can find some room in their financial picture to improve. Credit score problems plague many Americans, because the reality is that even if your score is good, it could probably be better. Remember that higher numbers tend to mean that lenders will extend you more credit at more favorable interest rates, so it is helpful to most people to learn what they can do to improve credit score ratings. To know how to improve credit your score ratings, it is first important to understand what the score is and how it works.

Steps to Take to Improve Credit Score

Fortunately, your credit score is not etched in stone, and there are actually a lot of things you can do to improve your credit score numbers. What follows are some basic credit score improvement tips. If you can follow most of them, you should be on your way to getting your credit rating where you want it to be.

Sign Up for Credit Reporting

Before you do anything else, you should take a minute to register for regular credit reports from CreditReport.com. You can’t improve your credit score if you don’t know what it is, and you can’t know if your efforts are in the right direction if you can’t track your progress. Getting regular credit reports through CreditReport.com is easy and will make your mission to improve your credit score that much more likely to be successful.

Know Your Score and Set a Goal

Remember that you need a credit report that comes with your score. You can get a complimentary credit report annually from a credit reporting bureau, but the score does not come with it. On the other hand, you can get a free credit score from CreditReport.com when you register for your report. Once you know your score, try to set a reasonable goal about where you want it to be in three months, six months, or a year. If you know where you stand and set moderate, incremental goals, then your overall goal of good credit will be easier to achieve.

Get up to Date

Your first goal should be to make sure that you are up to date and on time with all of your credit card and other loan payments. Not only can this improve your credit score right away, it can save you a ton of money on late fees and interest charges.

Pay More than the Minimum

Making minimum payments on credit cards is a losing strategy. You will never get out of debt and you will be slammed by huge interest charges every month, pushing you further down into the hole. Try to pay more than the minimum on every credit card.

Set a Budget

Figure out how much you bring in every month and how much you need for expenses, emergencies, recreation, and savings and put the rest towards whatever your current credit improvement goal is. You’ll use the number that you’ve budgeted for to determine how aggressively you can pursue your goals. Remember that the farther along you get, the easier it will become. As you pay down those credit cards, you’ll be dealing with lower balances and lower minimum payments.

Believe in Yourself

You can do this if you believe you can do it. A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. Commit to taking that step and you’ll have a better credit score before you know it.