Make a new plan, Stan
CLICK HERE if you missed the first part of this “Repair Your Credit” E-book chapter. Many of these tips seem commonsense, but if they are, why aren’t more of us practicing them in our financial lives? I think it’s because we can all use a refresher once in a while, particularly when it comes to fighting spending habits and the desire for instant gratification at the expense of all else. Debt relief comes primarily from good habits. Military loans or civilian payday loans in Kansas come from emergency situations. With the right budget and good habits, here’s to fewer emergencies in your future.
Pay bills on time
Letting things slip doesn’t pay in the long run. Paying your bills each month on time and every time is crucial to establishing and maintaining good credit. It does not matter how big or how small the balances are, if payment is overdue by 30 days or more and is turned over to a collection agency, the incident will be reported to the credit bureaus and you will receive a penalty that will affect your credit score for the next three years.
If times are tight and you are faced with a decision to pick and choose which bills to pay, it is smartest to pay bills such as your mortgage payment and all personal credit card bills first. These types of creditors will penalize you and report late payments that will hurt your score. If you have to let a bill lapse, let it be a utility bill or the like. These companies tend to be a lot more lenient and cooperative with setting up payment plans and so forth and avoid reporting to the collection agencies unless absolutely necessary.
Keep credit card balances under control
When it comes to consumer credit cards, just making payments on time is not enough to please credit bureaus. You should never use more than thirty to fifty percent of your total available credit. Tapping your credit cards makes you look like you are an overspending consumer. Keeping your balance to the lower end of this range will pay back big dividends in terms of credit worthiness. The best solution is to keep your debt to a minimum.
If possible, keep your balances at zero by paying off your statements in full each month. This creates a positive pattern of financial responsibility and frees you from the cycle of revolving interest. Remember, your accounts don’t have to carry a balance to establish credit; they just need to be in good standing.
Get a co-signer
One of the easiest ways to establish credit is to piggyback on someone else’s credit. Ask someone you trust and who trusts you to let you be a cardholder on one of their accounts. They don’t have to actually give you the card. Simply listing you as a cardholder causes their credit account information to show up on your credit report, thus giving you a positive boost to your FICO score.
KEEP READING. You’re almost there!
