Credit Improvement
Tips
There are credit improvement tips you need to know that
will raise your credit score if you apply it. First, you need
to know where you stand and what your score is. You also need
to know what types of negative marks are on your credit report.
That way you know what you need to get rid of. Obtaining a
credit report will be the starting point if you don't have a
recent one.
Lower Your Interest Rate (APR)
Find out what your APR or annual percentage rate is on each of
your credit card. If they are really high such as over 19% then
you need to call up your credit card company and ask for a
lower interest rate. Just tell them that youve gotten offers in
the mail for a lower rate such as 7.9% or a similar rate you
researched from a certain company and ask them if they can
match it since youve been a good customer for many years. Do
your research ahead of time and find several companies that are
offering lower interest rates for new customers. There are 80%
of credit card companies that will lower your interest through
this method.
Pay Down Your Debt
The next thing you need to do is try to reduce your debt as
much as possible. You should pay down the credit card with the
highest interest rate first to reduce the amount of finance
charges you incur every year. Dont pay down the card with the
lowest balance on it first. Make an excel spreadsheet of all
your credit cards, balances, APR and due date. Pay the minimum
every month on all your credit cards except the one with the
highest interest rate. On that card you want to pay as much as
you can to pay it off faster. Then after that card is paid off,
apply the payment for the previous card to the credit card with
the second highest interest rate. And so on Continue this until
all your debt has been paid off.
Use Credit Repair Services
If you currently have bad credit there are still things you can
do to improve you credit score so dont despair. You can look
over your credit report and see if there are any errors, if
there are, you need to write a letter of dispute to the credit
bureaus so they can have that removed. If you dont want to go
through the tedious process of writing dispute letters and
following up with it yourself you can find a credit repair
company that will do this for you. You should research it to
make sure its not a scam. If they mention anything unethical
then dont do it such as getting a new social security number,
using a business tax ID in place of your social security
number, or reporting that you had an identity theft or credit
fraud when you didnt.
Don't Max Out Your Credit Lines
Dont max out your credit cards. Lenders will think you are a
high-risk prospect if all your credit lines are max out. You
should only carry less than 50% of your total available credit.
For example: If the total available credit on all your credit
cards combined is $16,000 then you should owe less than $8,000.
Credit lines include personal loans, home equity loans, or
other credit lines.
Pay Your Credit Card Bills On Time
Always pay on time and send payment at least 10 days before the
due date to make sure that the payment gets there on time and
gets posted before the due date. You dont want any late payment
fees or negative remarks on your credit report if you can help
it.
Pay More than the Minimum Amount Due
Pay $5-10 more than the minimum will help your credit score.
Credit card companies will report that you pay more than the
minimum even if its just $5.
If you follow those credit improvement tips,
you will see your credit score start to increase over time. It
does take a little work and time to see results. Stick with it
and try to dig yourself out of debt as fast as you can.
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