by David Bohl
Credit makes the world go round. OK. That’s not exactly true, but if you have bad credit, use these catalogues for bad credit.
If you want to pay a decent interest rate on a mortgage or any loan you get or just get approved for a credit card, then you have to act to bump, bump, bump, bump it up (your credit score that is).
If you have blemished credit or downright bad credit, take these steps to get your credit back on track. While you already know that you have to pay your bills and pay them on time to increase your credit score, here are some lesser-known ways to get the job done. If you need some financial advice then click here to find out how to get your Finances back on Track.
Credit piggybacking.
If you’re married or have a close friend or relative with good credit, use this to your advantage. Have them add you to one of their established credit accounts–a credit card account usually works best for these purposes. With a simple phone call to the credit card company, your trusted credit buddy can request to add you as a cardholder on their account. Once this happens, their good credit becomes part of your credit report too. Simple and easy. The hard part–getting someone to add you to their account.
Pay down your debts (not off).
Find a list of expert credit repair companies, and call any one of them. Their first advice will be to start paying DOWN your debt, not paying it off. Debt is like cholesterol–there’s good cholesterol and bad cholesterol. There is good debt and bad debt. Credit cards quickly become bad debt when you’re paying 22% interest on a balance that you carry month after month, read about iva debt solution. Mortgage debt that is generally tax deductible is good debt (as long as you pay and you pay on time). You may think that you have to pay off all of your debt to better your credit, but this isn’t true. Creditors like to see that you can manage your debt. This means that you should carry balances on certain types of debt–paying it down as necessary. If you don’t have any debt because you paid it all off then there isn’t anything to manage! Just be wise about what debt you have and how you manage it.
Don’t close your credit accounts.
You’ve probably done it. You’ve had a credit card sitting in your wallet for the past ten years, but haven’t touched it. One day you’re trying to free up space in your wallet and you call and cancel the unused card. Bad idea. The longer your good credit history with the credit card company, the better it is for your credit report and score. And use different credit cards for example balance transfer credit cards. So pay your debt down and pay it off, but don’t close the account. It’s like a fine wine, it gets better with age!
Mix it up.
You wouldn’t want to eat a salad for lunch everyday for the rest of your life. You want to mix it up and try different foods–a good mix of choices. The same holds true for your credit. Your credit score vibes off a mix of different types of credit–auto loans, personal loans, and credit cards (revolving credit). Again, this illustrates your ability to manage your credit.
Get rid of your bad credit.
Everyone makes mistakes and creditors and credit agencies aren’t exceptions to this rule. This means that it is possible you’ll find errors on your credit report–accounts that aren’t yours, late payments that weren’t late, or debts sent to collection that were paid. Listen to this tip we got from North Shore Advisory, Inc, because it is important. When you find these errors, dispute them. Write a letter to the credit agency reporting this bad information telling them why it is wrong information and request for it to be removed from your credit report. Within 30 days the credit agency will respond and send you a new copy of your report when the information is removed. This is an instant boost in your credit.
Don’t file for bankruptcy.
Many people think filing for bankruptcy is the perfect solution to wipe their debt clean and start their credit history over again. Don’t fall into this trap. Bankruptcies stay on your credit for 7-10 years and make it extremely difficult to reestablish your credit. According to Pikalainaa specialists, it also proves to creditors that you can’t manage your own credit so you have to resort to filing for bankruptcy. Bankruptcy should not be used as a solution to your credit and debt problems–only as a last resort when you’ve exhausted all of your other options.
Use these six ways to bump up your credit score and to clean up your credit. Once you do, you’ll be well on your way to getting your world spinning back on its axis.
