How To Boost Your Credit Score Fast

Your credit score can influence much of your future financial decisions like buying a house or a car. Without a good credit score, you can find it difficult to get the funding that you need to make a life for yourself. Before you end up being stuck without any buying options, it could be time to take action and repair your credit.

Most middle-class people in the U.S. are only one missed paycheck away from financial disaster. This can take a toll on your credit rating. If you lose your job or run into hard times it doesn’t take much to start seeing your score start to drop.

Your credit score needs to be treated as if it’s the same as any other asset that you own. No greater determiner of your fate will ever have so much impact on your future purchases than a less than stellar credit score.

It takes attention and dedication but, in less time than you might think you should see your score will start to improve. From adding seasoned tradelines to your report to creating a new budget that makes it easier to stay on track, there is plenty that you can do to boost your credit score fast.

Get A Full Report

When you get serious about working on your credit it’s important to get a full credit report to see where you are starting from. Take a close look at your report and everything that is listed. You may find items that have already been resolved or even items that aren’t your debts but have been incorrectly listed on your report instead of someone else’s.

Start working with your credit advisor to remove or resolve any items that are fraudulent or incorrect. You may end up being able to have old and false items wiped off your report and boost your score right off the bat. Don’t waste your time trying to work on your score until you have a valid and accurate report so you know where to start from.

It is not unusual for people to have incorrect or old information still hanging out on their credit report. So, taking care of claims against your score will help you get to a better starting place. You can work with a credit counselor to help you decide what the best strategy is to help you get your score up fast.

Payment Plan

Once you know what you need to work on to improve your credit score it’s time to talk to your creditors. Nothing will get fixed by avoiding calls from people that you owe. The best route is to be proactive and approach your creditors on your own about scheduling new payment terms.

Credit card companies and other creditors are only interested in getting paid. So, if you are willing to agree to a workable payment schedule, most companies are happy to accommodate you instead of getting nothing.

If you are serious about repairing or building your credit, you need to set out a manageable budget for yourself. Save on luxury items like extended cable channel subscriptions, eating out, and general entertainment costs.

It’s a lot cheaper to stay at home and read a book than it is to keep living large and expecting changes to happen on their own. Getting your credit in good shape takes a full financial and lifestyle commitment.

Auto Payments

When you work out your new financial budget it’s a good idea to set up your regular payments first. You can set up auto-payments for many of the monthly bills that will come out of your account on the same day every month with no effort from you.

Never miss a payment again when you sign up for auto-payments. Late or missed payments have a huge influence on your score so it’s important to start paying everything on time if you want to give your score a boost.

You can also set up a regular deferment from your chequing to your savings. Whether you put away an extra $10 a week or $100 per month, that cash can be transferred to paying down your debt and bringing up your credit score.

Don’t Apply For Credit

While you are trying to manage and boost your credit score, it’s a good idea to stay away from new applications. Any kind of credit request will have to go through a full review of your credit which can affect your score if you are denied.

It may seem like it makes sense to borrow a lump sum to help you to pay off your debts but if you are denied it could make your situation worse. It’s better to leave your credit set up as it is and just work on paying your balances down.

Once you pay off a credit card, don’t close the account. It looks better on your report to have “available credit” rather than no access to a paid-down account.

Having bad credit can make it difficult to achieve many of your financial dreams. If you want to buy a new car, your first home or even start your own business you will need to work on your credit to make things happen.

If it’s time to get serious about your finances, you should always start with boosting your credit score. With just a few proactive changes like reviewing your current credit report and following a tight budget, you can improve your credit score fast.