28 August 2008
Bring Your Credit Score Up With These 5 Steps
Posted by Richard Lakin under: Personal Finance .
In our buy-now world, credit has become a condition that controls our lives, and there are only 5 Steps to take that can repair it. Bad credit repair is not hard to understand. The point is it has to be tackled with a positive mindset and a proactive plan. Although you can restore your credit, you’ll need to realize that doing so requires effort and patience. There are five steps toward bad credit repair that will get your started in the right direction.
Step One: Acquire Your Credit Report
Before you can fix your credit, you need to get your hands on a credit report. All of the major credit report agencies offer one free report each year, so it won’t cost you anything to find out the truth. The problem for many consumers is that they don’t want to know the truth about their situation. They would rather go around living in the dark and believing that everything is fine. If you are serious about purchasing a house or getting your finances in order for the future, it is essential that you face up to the truth by going and getting your free report from one of the three credit reporting bureaus.
2. Bring all accounts current
After you see your credit report, start paying on past due or neglected debts. Accounts you simply ignore have the worst impact on your credit score. Every passing month that you fail to pay your score is affected more adversely. There is no quick fix solution for bad credit but this guide will give you the ideas and motivation to get your credit score back on track.
3) Close all out-dated accounts that you do not use.
Once you have brought all of your accounts into a current state, you need to close them out. Take care of the debt that you owe, no matter how long it takes. This is the first step to raising your credit score and repairing bad credit. Once you have done that, close those accounts, cut up those credit cards, and get ready to move forward with your financial future.
4. Try to acquire some small line of credit
Try to acquire some small line of credit. It is not necessary to go out and get a credit card with a huge limit. Lenders will court you again once you get your credit in shape. Start with a credit card that has a small limit, and don’t use it all the time because you will want to make all of the payments by the due date. This is a great way to establish a new record of good standing with credit and it’s a good idea to begin the process of fixing your credit.
Step Five: Be Patient
Luckily for all of us, time heals all mistakes, even financial ones. Even the ugliest of your accounts will be gone from your record in seven years. That might seem like a long time, but it will fly by if you let it. Change the way you keep up with your finances and be patient enough to know that time will help raise your credit score as much as anything else.