Your credit score determines how different banks and other financial institutions view your credit worthiness. For example, it can determine whether you are able to get a mortgage or a car loan. If you have a low credit score you won’t be able to get the best rates on your mortgage if you are approved. It can also affect insurance rates. In other words, it can save or cost you hundreds or even thousands of dollars. If your credit score is not where you would like, the good news is that you can take steps to fix your credit score.It just takes some time and effort on your part and some research. The payoff in more and better credit offers is certainly worth it though.
Get Your Credit Score
Because it can affect your finances in so many different areas, it’s really important to keep up with your credit score. If you haven’t done so recently, it’s a good idea to go online and get your credit report and your credit score. Getting your score is the first thing you should do if you think you might need to fix your credit score.If it turns out that your credit score could use a boost, try some of the tips below to fix your credit score.
- Check Credit Report for Any Inaccuracies. Believe it or not, it is pretty common for your credit report to have some inaccuracies in it. This could be an old debt is still showing up even though you actually paid it off years ago. It could also be a debt that isn’t even yours. These errors need to be removed to fix your credit score.In order to remove the errors; you just need to file challenges on them. Many companies offer to remove these errors from your report. Do your research and you will find that anything these companies offer to do, you are able to do yourself. It probably will take a little more time if you do the work yourself but it is cheaper than hiring someone else to do it.
- Check On A Credit Limit Increase. This is one of the best ways to fix your credit score because the amount of credit available to you is one of the biggest factors affecting your credit score. If you are already using most or all of your credit, see if your credit card company will increase the limit. If you have a good credit record with them, you have a good chance of getting an increase. With more credit available to you, your score should go up.
- Try To Pay Off Debt Faster. Again, one of the main factors in determining your credit score is the amount of credit you have available to you. The amount of credit you are using each month is referred to as credit utilization. If you pay more than just the minimum each month, this will free up more of your credit, keep your utilization low and help fix your credit score.
- Transfer Your Credit Card Balances. There are a couple of benefits to doing this. For one, you free up the credit on the existing cards. This is great for your credit utilization. Also, a lot of credit cards offer great introductory rates for balance transfers. This gives you a better rate to pay the balances off, at least during the introductory period. Just remember that it is an introductory rate and will increase after a specified number of months. To maximize the benefit of transferring your balances, you really need to pay them off during the introductory period, or at least pay them down quite a bit. If you follow this advice, it will definitely help you fix your credit score.
- Ask For Forgiveness. If you have been late on a credit card payment, this will definitely affect your credit score negatively. In fact, payment history is one of the main factors in determining your score. More specifically, they look at whether or not your payments are on time as agreed. So, if you have had a late payment, you should try to have it excused. This is not always successful but it is worth a try. If you were only late on your payment one time and you otherwise have a good track record with them, you have a much better chance of having the late payment forgiven. If successful, this is a great way to fix your credit score.
In conclusion, your credit score is one of the biggest factors in determining the types of credit you are offered. Over the long run, having a low score could really cost you a lot of money. Take some time, do your research and try the tips listed above. They can really help you fix your credit score.