Improving Your Credit Score: A Few Helpful Hints
In reviewing a few "Tips of the Trade" on improving your credit score, I came across a couple of bottom line helpful hints:
1. Repay your debts, keep balances low and paid off each month!
2. Be suspicious of what is on your credit report!
That is really all there is to it! But how to you learn about and make the most of steps 1 and 2?
In step 1, you know to repay your debts, keep balances low and paid off each month. That means do not borrow more than you can afford to pay back and watch interest rates. If you carry balances over, this affects not only your interest rate, but what you can afford to pay back month to month. So the best way is to repay your debts on credit cards in full each month and on loans well above minimum payments. And by all means, pay them back ON TIME! Late fees can smack you in the financial face really hard sometimes $39 hard! This is also reported to the credit bureaus when it happens too often.
Speaking of Credit Bureaus, step 2 is to be suspicious and know what is on your credit report.
I know there are tons of websites out there marketing themselves as "free credit report online", etc., but they ultimately get you to buy their service so you can shell out anywhere from $5-$40 a month to monitor for "any changes".
You monitor your own credit report by simply visiting the websites of the credit reporting agencies (there is a small fee for doing this)and do it every 6 months to a year:
1. Equifax (www.equifax.com)
2. Experian (www.experian.com)
3. Transunion (www.transunion.com)
You can also do it for free at http://www.annualcreditreport.com.
There are many other resources out there to assist you with all the particulars about the above. A site that I promote and recommend, as it is all-inclusive and will tell you just about everything you need to know to improve your credit score is:
Credit Secrets Revealed:
http://www.productsupplycenter.com/web175816
It will give you the expansion-based information on the above article and is really a wealth of information for a very low investment.
I hope you found this article informative and helpful.
Yours in Healthy Finances for 2009,
Tamara Christman
1. Repay your debts, keep balances low and paid off each month!
2. Be suspicious of what is on your credit report!
That is really all there is to it! But how to you learn about and make the most of steps 1 and 2?
In step 1, you know to repay your debts, keep balances low and paid off each month. That means do not borrow more than you can afford to pay back and watch interest rates. If you carry balances over, this affects not only your interest rate, but what you can afford to pay back month to month. So the best way is to repay your debts on credit cards in full each month and on loans well above minimum payments. And by all means, pay them back ON TIME! Late fees can smack you in the financial face really hard sometimes $39 hard! This is also reported to the credit bureaus when it happens too often.
Speaking of Credit Bureaus, step 2 is to be suspicious and know what is on your credit report.
I know there are tons of websites out there marketing themselves as "free credit report online", etc., but they ultimately get you to buy their service so you can shell out anywhere from $5-$40 a month to monitor for "any changes".
You monitor your own credit report by simply visiting the websites of the credit reporting agencies (there is a small fee for doing this)and do it every 6 months to a year:
1. Equifax (www.equifax.com)
2. Experian (www.experian.com)
3. Transunion (www.transunion.com)
You can also do it for free at http://www.annualcreditreport.com.
There are many other resources out there to assist you with all the particulars about the above. A site that I promote and recommend, as it is all-inclusive and will tell you just about everything you need to know to improve your credit score is:
Credit Secrets Revealed:
http://www.productsupplycenter.com/web175816
It will give you the expansion-based information on the above article and is really a wealth of information for a very low investment.
I hope you found this article informative and helpful.
Yours in Healthy Finances for 2009,
Tamara Christman
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