A good credit score is very important for your financial life. If you want to apply for any type of credit a good credit score is imperative. It affects the interest rate that you can secure as well as whether you can get the loan at all.
You can repair your credit even though it may be difficult. If you have overcome problems in the past you may need to repair your credit. If you have inaccurate or erroneous credit showing on your report you can issue disputes and attempt to get it removed. You can hire a professional to help you or you can do it on your own.
There are a few things that are crucial to repairing your credit score that you can do on your own. These are things that you should do before you attempt any other type of credit repair.
Make sure that all of your payments are made on time. A large percentage of your credit score is based on your consistency of making your payments on time. Try not to ever be late.
One more thing that is important is to pay down your balances. Try to keep all of your credit balances below 20% of your available credit. Much of your credit score is based upon the amount of credit available compared to how much credit you actually use. In order to have the highest credit scores, you need to have the credit available but not use it.
If you have overcome problems in the past just try to improve your credit as you go. Keep the older accounts active if possible because the age of an account makes a difference. Never cancel a credit card outright but just put it away and stop using it if you don?t want it anymore. When you cancel it outright it counts against you by reducing the amount of available credit.
Department and furniture store cards are counted as a negative. Try to avoid this type of credit if possible. Just wait until you can pay cash or use a regular credit card, so long as you keep the balance below the 20% mark. Also, do not apply for credit as every inquiry counts against you.
If you are in need of additional credit repair you may want to look into the services of a professional credit repair company. However, paying your bills on time and lowering your balances are things that only you can do and those things are critical for a high credit score.
