5 Credit Repair Tips

Attaining a good credit score range is essential for many things in life. If you want to apply for a student loan, get a mortgage, buy a new car, or just use a credit card to buy your weekly groceries - you will need to be able to convince a money lender that you are a good prospect to lend their money to.

Your credit score can also affect the way insurance companies view you, your loan interest rate, and even how landlords and potential employers view you as a candidate! Having a result in the good credit score range can show others that you are a steady, financially responsible person and as such can affect your insurance rates, whether you become a tenant in your dream apartment, and even if you can get a job in certain industries!

A good credit score is your key to unlocking the money you need to buy your new home, get an education, or have your own vehicle to get you from A to B. So, to move forward in life, it is essential that you are aware of what your score is and what you need to do if you have a bad credit score.

If you have a bad credit score, you will need to sit down and get a plan in place to begin improving it. Below we will detail the 5 Credit Repair Tips That Everyone Should Know to Get A Good Credit Score.

Discover Your Current Credit Score

Your very first step in the credit repair process is to order copies of your current Credit Card Score Reports. You can do this by heading to annualcreditreport.com, This Federal Law authorized site will allow you to access free credit reports. You should also look into getting credit reports from the three credit reporting agencies - Equifax, TransUnion, and Experian, so you can see a detailed breakdown of exactly what is contributing to your score with each organization.

Once you have received these, you should, first of all, sit down and see if there are any errors in your credit report. Sometimes information is out of date on one or more of the reports and you may find that there is a mistake that affects your credit scores. Contact the relevant credit bureau and update them with the correct information. This is one of the easiest ways to begin to fix your credit score.

Make Sure You Pay Your Bills on Time

If you have been lax on paying your bills, ignored demand letters, and let yourself fall behind on your credit card balances, this will have negatively affected your credit history. Now is the time to start turning the tide. One of the easiest ways to make sure that you don't miss your monthly bills is to set up automated payments with your bank.

This way you won’t have to worry about remembering, it will also help you to become better organized financially. You will be able to log into your bank app and see your upcoming bills which will allow you to budget your money accordingly.

Be Careful About Online Credit Repair Services

One of the first steps you might consider is turning to a credit repair agency, but you need to be very careful. An online search will bring up a lot of companies making very tempting promises that they most likely cannot fulfill. This practice is illegal, and the FTC will prosecute companies that are caught doing this, but there are still lots of companies out there looking to take advantage. Here are some signs to look out for:

• Are they asking for an up-front setup fee without having done anything yet?
• Do they claim to be associated with the federal government?
• Are they guaranteeing they will get you to a specific FICO score?
• Do they claim they are tied to the credit bureaus?
• Is their website claiming that you can't fix your FICO and VantageScore credit score by yourself?
• Is the company asking you to waive your Credit Repair Organizations Act rights?
• Are they claiming they will be able to complete your credit repair within 30 days?

As with most companies, you need to be wary of anyone who is offering a service that is too good to be true. It is perfectly possible to regain excellent credit scores on your own if you do your research and complete the work.

You can use the information available online, in your credit reports, and by using credit score models to repair your credit score. Using one of these companies may just end up costing you more money and putting you in a worse position in terms of paying off your credit accounts.

Do You Need to Change Your Spending Habits?

Sit down with your credit card bills, amazon purchase history, and a list of your daily, weekly, and monthly purchases. Do you need to start cutting out unnecessary purchases to improve your financial status? No one expects you to live a life without any treats or fun, but you also need to make sure you are making adult and responsible decisions.

Set yourself a budget for your leisure and pleasure purchases and do not exceed it. Anytime you are tempted to make an impulse purchase on a product you don’t really need, visualize your ultimate financial goals.

What is more important overall, having a collection of pretty shoes you hardly wear or owning your own house? Do you hold more stock in buying expensive video games than you do in your chance to get a higher education? Each purchase by itself might not seem like much, but they soon all add together month upon month. Create a realistic spending budget and stick to it!

Do Not Expect Your Credit Repair Efforts to Work Overnight

Just as it took you quite a while to build up your bad credit score, it will take some time to get in your way towards building up a good one! But the great news is that credit bureaus consider your more recent credit history as being more important than your previous behavior! Having a bad credit score now does not mean you will have one forever.

So, the sooner you start working to fix your credit, the sooner you will start to see the gradual move towards your target credit score. As time passes, your previous financial troubles will begin to have less influence over your credit score, as your more recent financial behavior has a more positive effect.

Takeaway - 5 Credit Repair Tips for Good Credit

Changing your credit score will not happen overnight and may involve making some tough decisions. But keep your long-term goals in mind! A good credit score unlocks a range of financial opportunities which will allow you to move forward in your life and attain your goals. Steady, sound financial planning and responsible spending are essential if you are serious about credit repair and getting yourself into a good credit score range.