Your credit score can cause you a lot of frustration if it is too low. Your credit score has the ability to keep your from refinancing your home and even prevent your from purchasing a home. If you need to increase your credit score, you'll need to take into account a major secret involving your credit.
First of all, the general rule of thumb is not having more than 50% of your available credit used. For example, if you have 5 credit cards and each one has a credit limit of $1,000, you should not have a balance of more than $500 on each one of them. If you do, your credit score could be lowered. Most lenders prefer you to have less than 25% of your credit used, meaning you would not want more than $250 for a balance on any of them. If you have balances totally more than 50% of your available credit, there is a way to fix it.
First of all, you can do this in one or two ways. The first way involves paying down your debt. This simply means paying down the balance to equal less than 50% of the available credit limit. This can take time and if you want to do this quickly, you might want to take the next advice.
If you have paid your bills on time, you might want to consider increasing your credit limits with your creditors. For example, if your credit limit is $1,000 and you have a balance of $500, try increasing your credit limit to $2,000. This will bring your balance to 25% of your limit.
The only problem with this, it will allow you to spend more on your card. You should only use this method if you have good control of your spending. If you think that you'll use your credit card once you raise that limit, you should not use this method as you could end up with a lower score than you had before. Also, remember, the higher amount you owe, the higher the minimum payments will be.
To Increase Credit Score
Having a high credit score can mean the difference of thousands of dollars of saved interest expense compared to others with a lower score. For example, if you improve credit score results from the credit bureaus, just a few points that increase your credit score can make huge difference in the interest rate you will pay for a home purchase. It pays to increase your credit score!
The most commonly used credit scores available to lenders are FICO scores, which is a scoring method created by Fair, Isaac & Co...FICO!
These scores are provided to lenders by the three major credit bureaus: Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. Before we get into some tips how to improve credit scores, it pays to review the major areas that determine your FICO score.
1. Payment history on credit and retail store cards, loans and mortgages.
2. Amount that you owe. Credit agencies look at how many accounts have balances and the proportion of that balance to the credit line.
3. How long is your credit history? The longer the better.
4. New credit accounts. Applying for a bunch of credit cards all at once can hurt your score.
5. Different credit types, such as mortgages, retail loans, credit cards and installment loans.
6. How many late payments do you have?
Now, with the playing field laid out, let's work to boost your credit score! Some methods that boost your credit score take time, months or years, and others areas to improve credit score can be made with a phone call right now! That said, here are the 7 tips to raise your credit score!
7 tips to improve credit scores
1. Pay your bills on time. Your payment history is a major factor (35% of your FICO score) in determining your credit score. If you pay your bills late, or had an account referred to collections, your credit score will take a major hit.
2. Sign up for online banking and make sure your regular recurring bills are paid automatically. This way you will not forget a payment that will wind up reducing your credit score.
3. Increase your credit limit. Another large factor is the amount of your debt in relation to your credit limit. If you have a card with a $10,000 credit limit and your balance is $9,000, this will not help to improve your score. To make the debt/credit limit ratio look better, you can try to call your credit card company and request an increase in your credit limit. Don't use the extra credit though! That defeats the whole purpose and puts you further in debt!
4. Don't apply for many cards at once. This will not improve your credit score because this is a characteristic of high credit risk groups.
5. Don't ever close an open credit card account. If you pay off a credit card down to a zero balance, leave it open. Remember that a positive factor for your credit score is how much available credit you have at your disposal when compared to your credit balance, in addition to the length of your credit history.
6. Apply for loans within a two-week period. Every time you request a loan and the lender pulls your credit report, it can hurt your score. It is part of the FICO formula that reasons "this person is trying to apply for credit and loans and possibly be trying to live way beyond their means!" If you keep the loan process within a two-week period, all of the credit report lookups are bundled together as one single request!
7. Check for errors on your credit report. Examine your credit report for errors and contact the credit reporting agencies to fix any errors on your credit report.
If you take action and follow these tips, you will be able to give your credit score and immediate boost and gradually increase it even more as time passes. The major keys are to pay your bills on time and reduce your debt amounts when compared to your credit limit. This has a twofold benefit of improving your credit score and reducing your debt.
Both Jp Burkhart & Greg Quincy are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
