1. Monitor your credit reports
One of the most important things on your credit score is to know where you stand . If you do not know what kind of financial shape than you are, how can you improve? By law, you are allowed one free copy of your credit report annually. Make sure that your report does not contain errors - a surprising number of them do. Your reports and credit scores can vary between the three major credit bureaus (Equifax, Experian and TransUnion) because different types of credit are often reported to different offices. For example, a car loan that you recently opened can be reported to Experian and TransUnion, but not Equifax. That's why it's important to know what is on all three of your reports because an outcome could be much worse than the other two.
Because you will not receive your credit scores of the three major credit bureaus when you get your free annual report, you may want to consider signing up for a credit monitoring service. Many of these services give you your scores instantly to your registration and better yet, they will even monitor activity on the three reports and notes on an ongoing basis, and alerts you of changes or additions. This will help ensure there are no defects that can be caused by fraud or error. Most of the best credit report monitoring services like Identity Guard and FreeScoresAndMore will also provide you with all three of your reports and your credit scores immediately after registration. In addition, both the identity and FreeScoresAndMore Guard offer free 30 day trials so you can test the service before making a financial commitment.
2. Pay your bills on time
This is a given, but paying bills consistently late will have a negative impact on your credit score very quickly. At the very least, make sure you pay the minimum balance on your credit cards. Although incurring interest charges are not a good thing, it is much better than having a bill sent to collections.
If you need time to pay your credit card bills without having to worry about interest charges, consider applying for a credit card with a 0% Introductory APR, then transfer balance of the old card to the new one. Complete a balance transfer will help you save money because you have to pay any interest during the introductory period. When it comes to balance transfer credit cards, Chase Slate is one of the best options because it comes with a 0% Intro APR on balance transfers and purchases for 15 months, and a fee $ 0 balance transfer if you complete the transfer within the first 60 days of opening the account. Also, people with not so perfect credit are more likely to be approved for Chase Slate because it requires "good" credit, unlike many other 0% APR cards, which require "excellent" credit. It should be noted that most balance transfer cards, you may have to pay a small time the balance transfer fee - usually 3% to 5% of the total balance transferred. Get all the details on how a balance transfer work.
3. Reduce your credit utilization ratio
Lowering your credit utilization can be accomplished in a couple of ways. First, pay the balance on your credit card will increase the amount of credit you have. The second way to reduce your credit utilization is to ask for a new credit; specifically revolving credit like a credit card. This is because the installment loans such as a car loan, do not affect your credit utilization.
You should not do this if you pay a lot of debt (unless you plan to do a balance transfer to get a lower interest rate) or have a habit of maxing out your credit cards . However, if you are responsible with credit, opening a new credit card can help you increase your credit score by increasing the amount of credit available, which will lower your credit utilization.
Knowledge is power
When you know what is on your credit reports, either good or bad, you have the ability to make changes that can help you improve your credit score and overall financial health. It is important to know your credit score as well as check your credit reports from all three credit bureaus (Equifax, Experian and TransUnion) often. It only takes a moment. Visit our credit report monitoring reviews to see what service is best to help you keep track of your reports and scores.