Rate this Article

Excellent   Good   Average   Bad   Terrible Current Rating

• Pay your bills on time. One of the most effective things you can do to improve your credit score is to pay all your bills on time and in full. Over the months, this will dramatically improve your score. If you have a hard time remembering to pay bills on time, set aside a bill paying time each week. You can also have your bills automatically charged to your bank or credit account, so that you never forget to pay.
• Maintain long-term relationships with lenders. Staying with lenders and credit card companies for a long time helps establish a credit history. It is especially good to pay bills on time with the same lenders over a period of years. This shows a level of stability that many lenders like to see.
• Pay off your debts. Paying off some of your debts can help you improve your credit score. If you have too many debts or only pay the minimum on your debts each month, you will be closer to having an overextended credit, and so will be considered a worse credit risk.
• Check your free credit scores regularly. You should check your free credit scores once a year. You will also want to get the one free credit report you are entitled to each year. Not only will correcting errors on your credit report each year help you to keep a good credit rating, but keeping track of your credit score will help motivate you to keep improving your credit.
• Know your credit scores when you apply for loans. When you apply for loans, you will want to know your credit ratings. That way, you will be able to negotiate. If a lender offers you a poor interest rate even though you have a good credit score, you will be able to remind the lender of your credit score and then negotiate for better loan rates and terms.
• Keep credit checks to a minimum. This means that you will want to avoid getting lots of new loans and online quotes. Each time that you ask for a quote online or apply for a loan, a lender will check your credit score and possibly your credit report. Many recent checks may make it appear that you are applying for lots of credit and that you may overextend your credit. This can make you less attractive to lenders and can actually mean that you may be quoted much higher interest rates.

Related Articles