Rebuild Credit Score - First Critical Steps To Financial Success
Having a bad score impacts so many things in your life these days.
You can't purchase the nicer things in life, such as a new flat screen TV, a later model car, a house, or even buy little things without carrying around a pocket full of cash.
If you have a bad score, even the cable, gas, and electric companies will make you pay a cash deposit before turning it on.
Before hiring you, many employers verify your score now as a way of determining your honesty and integrity.
Fair or not, your financial status means a lot.
To put a rebuild credit score plan in place as fast as possible, there are some fundamental steps that are crucial.
These steps are important first steps to regain control of your financial situation.
- Get a handle on your situation
- Get all 3 of your credit agency reports.
They are free. - Determine how much total debt you have on your report.
- Determine your total monthly payment obligations on your report.
- What is the interest rate and estimated time to pay off each debt item.
- Get all 3 of your credit agency reports.
- Dispute all errors
- Review all 3 reports for errors.
This is a very important task to rebuild credit score. - Write to the reporting agency with all appropriate supporting information confirming the mistakes.
- Review all 3 reports for errors.
- Get control of your debt load
- Focus first on reducing each revolving credit balance that is above 30% of your credit line.
- Make a small extra payment to each revolving credit line.
Credit agencies reward you for this with higher ratings. - Don't use your credit cards until you've reduced all revolving lines to less that 30% of the line of credit.
- As tempting as it might seem, don't cancel credit cards.
That can actually lower your score.
- Focus first on reducing each revolving credit balance that is above 30% of your credit line.
There is nothing worse than sacrificing to fix your score, only to slip back into the habits that got you in trouble in the first place.
Here's a useful tip.
One common trait that people with good credit have, is the discipline to use credit cards like cash.
That is, they pay it off each month.
They only use credit cards so they don't have to carry cash around.