Improve a Credit Score and Stay on Top of It

November 15, 2008 · Print This Article

There’s a seriously large number of Americans in debt these days. In fact, most individuals have debt in some form or another. It’s just the regrettable nature of today’s economy that a tragically high amount of them are drowning in it. It’s tough enough trying to make ends meet in a sluggish economy. Most people really don’t need to hear angry creditors barking at them over the phone and through the mail, chasing them up the proverbial tree and leaving them feeling helpless and stranded.

If you’re like the legions of people out there who are hunched over from the heaping loads of debt on their tired shoulders, then you know exactly how it feels to be stressed constantly and to wonder if there’s any way out of the situation. Truth be told, there really is, and you’re just as capable of achieving financial stability as you’ve ever been. It’s simply a matter of working elements of positive behavior into your financial lifestyle and reaching a point where you’ve achieved strong discipline towards spending and budgeting.

Of course, there’s also the fact that with every good choice you make towards reducing debt, you improve your credit as a result. This is most true in regards to credit cards. If you reduce and eliminate your balances and strive to make full payments on time in the future, you’ll see your credit improve in a very real and dramatic way. This is an exceptionally good thing, as your credit governs a lot of what your debt in based on: interest rates.

If you improve your credit, you naturally increase the chances of obtaining interest rates that are much lower than what you’re currently paying on a large number of bills — especially your mortgage and your car loans. By managing to obtain good credit, you’ll make everything else easier in regards to keeping yourself out of debt by naturally reducing the amount you owe altogether.

It doesn’t come right away, though. It takes steady attention to details and discipline and a resolve to make sure that once you start clearing debt, you plan on taking the effort all the way to complete and total debt relief. This involves setting financial goals for yourself and managing your money in a way that focuses on controlling expenses and clearing debt before making any sort of new purchases. Credit takes time to build — even with a credit card, you have to be patient to see the results. But they will occur, and they’ll occur at a steady pace if you apply yourself diligently to the task of ensuring that you’re working towards financial recovery and stability.

Credit is something that affects everybody who operates within the economy. If you want to get the best deals on financing, insurance, or even some things like apartments and utilities, you’ll want to improve your credit score. You want to keep your debts from building up. Paying what you can step by step to remove debt from your life will not only clear your debt, but prevent it from coming back due to good credit that goes towards reducing APRs and interest rates.

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Comments

22 Responses to “Improve a Credit Score and Stay on Top of It”

  1. Doug the credit repair agencies expert on May 15th, 2009 12:02 pm

    Thank you for a great article! I would also like to add that in a good many cases – in fact, our TOO many cases – a low credit score can be due to errors on one’s credit report.

    It’s always a good idea to get a copy of your credit report and examine it for mistakes. It only takes one mistake to lower your score, and the odds are very strong that there ARE mistakes on your report!

    If you find that to be the case, you should definitely take steps to correct it. You will need to dispute mistakes with the credit Bureau listing them. You can do this yourself or get help from a credit repair company. But if you choose the latter route, beware of scams! Check with the Ethical Credit Repair Alliance before hiring anyone.

  2. caputte on August 2nd, 2010 3:40 am

    How you can improve credit score fast: Experts know the ways for how to improve credit score quick. But by simply answering the subsequent fundamental queries, you have a guide on how to make it. Do you maintain your accounts at their minimal balance? Have you been paying before or on your due date? Do you overspend? Do you verify your customer report regularly? Should you answered “no” to any, most or many of these queries, you’ll need information about how to improve credit score quick.

  3. rohander on August 3rd, 2010 9:48 pm

    Credit Repair Secret Code: How To Shoot Your Credit Score To 750
    Learn the credit repair secrets that lenders want hidden from you. Secret tips and tactics you wont find anywhere else. No fluff, concise! — Earn 60% per sale!

  4. tiggs dordi on August 7th, 2010 2:52 am

    I am debating in between a personal loan during a most reduce seductiveness rate or transferring a change to a brand new label O% apr. we am overly sure that we could compensate a change prior to a 0% duration is over. The send price seems value it g…

  5. fancernanc bessner on August 7th, 2010 5:16 pm

    Article by at 2010-08-07 10:38:53
    Categorized in Raise Credit Score,

  6. daru on August 8th, 2010 7:06 am

    Cards such as American Express have no preset credit limit and require the user to pay in full each month, but they can still benefit your scores.

    Dear Liz: I’ve followed your advice on building credit and now, at 20, have credit scores around 730. I recently applied for and received an American Express gold card. But I’ve read that charge cards can hurt your credit score, or at least not help it.

    read more

  7. ter berg on August 10th, 2010 7:42 am

    As you may or may not know it is very difficult to buy a house now for people with low credit scores (less than 700.) The stock markets are falling and companies are failing because they lent money to people who were not creditworthy at ridiculous rates they could not afford. So to be blunt you don't have a lot of opportunity now as it stands, but that's not to say there isn't hope. First let me say that for you it may be cheaper and more financially sound for you to rent until you either get a better credit score or the housing economy improves again (which can take years). Fixing your credit score though won't take as long so focus on that for now.

    Let me share with you my tips that you can use to build your credit score quickly. I raised mine to well over 700 points fro 500 using these steps in less than a year — :

    # Know and Track Your Credit Score (be sure to sign up for the free trial of your credit score tracking listed below. It really helped my get my score up.)
    # Never Miss a Payment, Starting Today
    # Never use more than 20% of your Available Credit
    # Keep Credit Cards that Have No Annual Fees Open For as Long as Possible
    # Extend Your Credit Limit on Cards You Already Have before You Get New Ones
    # Get Credit Cards that Have CashBack Rewards to Contribute to your Balance
    # Transfer Your Balance to a Credit Card with a Lower Interest Rate and a Higher Available Credit-
    # If You Think You Are Going to be FORCED to Pay a Bill Late Ask for an Extension or Payment Plan
    # Take out a Small Personal Loan and Repay it Over a Year
    # Ask Someone With Good Credit if They will Account Shadow you

    Read more here:
    10-Ways to Boost Your MyFico Score

    When you're trying to build a solid credit score it's important to get a comprehensive view of what is actually effecting it…
    Your Credit Score (also known as your MyFico score) is calculated with the following breakdown:
    35% – Payment History
    30% – Credit to Debt Ratio
    15% – Credit History
    10% – New Credit
    10% – Credit Types in Use

    If you excel in one area and lack in another, only fixing the areas which you lack are going to improve your score

  8. schulmer blairds on August 13th, 2010 2:13 am

    Article by at 2010-08-12 14:43:35
    Categorized in Income,

  9. hod on August 14th, 2010 3:28 am

    Anything above a 650 should get you a decent APR and is considered a "good credit" score by most banks and lenders.

  10. subatachi on August 15th, 2010 3:35 pm

    A large number of websites are on the internet which reveal how to get the best credit cards online. Nearly all sites contain a handful of easy questions you can answer about your credit score, and the type of card you want. The website usually lists the top three to five cards in a side by side comparison. You ought to be aware of a few main issues when looking for deals.

  11. fice warn on August 15th, 2010 6:57 pm

    For Credit Rating purposes you are regarded as being in debt to the limit on all of you credit accounts – because, lets face it, you could be in a wink. Getting rid of a credit limit increases your rating.

  12. gran perman on August 15th, 2010 8:14 pm

    check out my channel for free credit repair ebook, its a must have for anyone serious about their credit

  13. rosnan ahm on August 16th, 2010 8:10 pm

    How do I improve my credit score with the following secnario? -

  14. maye cama on August 18th, 2010 6:50 pm

    it doesnt matter this isnt his real voice and none of them are playing the instruments. the guy is french canadian so they dubbed over his voice in america

  15. trichmann on August 20th, 2010 8:34 am

    OK, Family meeting folks, need to cut cost, for starters bare bone essentials only, canceling all insurance policies (frauds anyway) walk away from credit cards (Fico: huge fraud), walk and bye bye underwater mortgage. Hey,…it’s just a pragmatic family business decision. Got the idea from Wall Street too big to fail banks, I hear they are really good at it, got my Tarp money and all, so screw it. Start me a family weed/veggie garden, shop local, pop me a cool one and,..Oh, well Fuck it.

  16. venturadog on August 22nd, 2010 1:04 am

    my boss just did it on a pay check :D nothing happened but hours worked and money amount was huge :D

  17. raver on August 22nd, 2010 3:10 am

    SuttonMarketingTips: Increase Your Credit Score After A Big Credit Problem | Radio …

  18. juerchakie schoechet on August 22nd, 2010 7:32 pm

    New blog post: Will cancelling my credit card improve my credit score?

  19. lauz on August 25th, 2010 3:34 am

    my boss just did it on a pay check :D nothing happened but hours worked and money amount was huge :D

  20. lik baby on August 26th, 2010 11:14 pm

    I have multiform credit cards with 0 balances which we no longer make use of as well as do not wish them unresolved around my house. Will it harm my credit measure if we tighten these cards?
    AKPC_IDS += “1475,”;

  21. wicanty copulligma on August 31st, 2010 9:13 pm

    Thanks.

  22. yasing on September 1st, 2010 11:05 pm

    Credit card debt is a serious issue for Americans, who have an average of four credit cards each. Defaulting on credit card bills can result in damage to your credit score and even bankruptcy. Y Combinator-backed ReadyForZero is launching today as easy to use web-based platform to help guide consumers out of credit card debt. The site asks you to import your credit card information, including what types of cards you have, the amount owed, and will then walk you through the same steps a trusted financial advisor would give you. Based on your minimum payments, salary and balance, ReadyForZero will figures out an optimal strategy for what to pay and when. The site will send you reminders and you can track your progress online. While you cannot actually pay your bills directly from ReadyForZero, the startup will eventually allow users to do this directly from the site.

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