Boosting your credit score is manageable. First off, avoid lowering it further – stop doing these 3 things immediately:
- opening and closing accounts
- paying bills late
- only making minimum credit card payments*
*Paying down a credit card balance should be a huge priority. The interest charges are bonkers – shovel as much money (as you can realistically afford) onto your card until you pay off the balance. Here’s why.
We’ve stopped digging ourselves in deeper (no shame: it’s very common, you are not alone) by learning from and adapting our old patterns and done our credit score a huge favor. Celebrations are in order! Your credit score is high fiving a million angels!
For the fun stuff: building that credit score
A credit score is like a garden, it must be tended to or it’ll get out of control. Prune the bushes, weed the garden and enjoy the healthy financial harvest for years to come.
1- Pay bills in full, and on time, each month
Only buying what you can afford makes it more realistic to pay off the balance in full
2 – Avoid future credit card debt
By sticking to only what you can pay off, you aren’t taking on new debt.
3 – Keep an eye on credit card balances
If your credit card limit is $500, and you charge $50 a month, you’re using 10% of your available credit. 30% is the magic number not to exceed.
4 – Don’t let old money mistakes haunt your current credit score
It’s okay to request and check your own credit report. You’re entitled to check it for free once a year to review everything and make sure you’re not getting unfairly penalized for something that’s already been dealt with.
It’s free to check your credit score at Credit Karma