12 May Boosting Your Credit Score: An Impossible Task?
It may seem like an impossible feat, but boosting your credit score does not have to be as difficult as you think. Maintaining a good credit score can be as simple as following directions and committing to being financially responsible.
First and foremost, make every effort to pay your bills on time. Your payment history accounts for 30% of your credit score. Timely payments can make all the difference when trying to improve your credit score. If your payment history is less that desirable, try to commit to making timely payments moving forward. By years end, your score will see the benefits of your responsible habits.
Next, make sure you have a few open, positive accounts. While a history of positive accounts that are closed will help your score, lenders like to see active, positive accounts too. If you are worried about opening a credit card account, try applying for a secured credit card, which will require you to prepay for any items charged on the card.
Make sure to keep your accounts out of collections. If you must contact a creditor directly to work out a payment plan, this is a better option than having an account sent to collections. Collection accounts can seriously damage your score. Even paid collections or collection accounts you are making regular payments upon will hurt your credit score. Making payment arrangements will help you avoid losing those extra points.
Another way to boost your credit score is to keep your balances as low as possible. An important credit score factor is the ratio of how much of your credit you have used up versus how much is available to you. Keeping the balances low, and sufficiently below the credit limit on an account improve your score. Try to do what you can to pay off as many of the balances you have been carrying.
Try to maintain a variety of accounts. Multiple types of accounts will improve your score. Keeping positive accounts such as credit cards, installment loans, mortgage loans on your credit history will be looked at favorably.
Limit the amount of new accounts you open. Too many credit applications can damage your credit score and finding the right balance of old accounts and new accounts can be tricky. Limiting the amount of accounts you open to only what you need and can afford without overextending yourself.
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