{"id":217,"date":"2015-04-22T21:45:43","date_gmt":"2015-04-22T21:45:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/clarksvilletnrealestateforsale.com\/?p=217"},"modified":"2015-04-22T21:45:43","modified_gmt":"2015-04-22T21:45:43","slug":"11-ways-to-raise-your-credit-score-quickly","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/clarksvilletnrealestateforsale.com\/?p=217","title":{"rendered":"11 WAYS TO RAISE YOUR CREDIT SCORE QUICKLY"},"content":{"rendered":"

11 WAYS TO RAISE YOUR CREDIT SCORE QUICKLY<\/h4>\n
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PERSONAL FINANCE<\/a><\/h5>\n

11 WAYS TO RAISE YOUR CREDIT SCORE,\u00a0FAST<\/h1>\n<\/hgroup>\n

\"Curtis<\/a>Curtis Arnold<\/a>\u00a0,\u00a0Contributor<\/span><\/cite>Comment Now<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/hgroup>\n

Follow Comments\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

A recent survey from the National Foundation for Credit Counseling indicates that more people would be embarrassed to admit their credit scores (30%) than their weight (12%).<\/p>\n

While crash diets don\u2019t usually work and can be unhealthy, it\u00a0is<\/i>\u00a0possible to change your credit score fairly quickly. But just as with weight loss, \u201cquickly\u201d is a relative term. Seeing any improvement could take 30 to 60 days, according to\u00a0Liz Weston<\/a>, personal finance columnist and author of\u00a0Your Credit Score, Your Money & What\u2019s At Stake.<\/em><\/p>\n

But nothing will change at all if you just sit there on the couch, eating Cheetos and charging items on the Home Shopping Network. So get moving!<\/p>\n

The first thing to do is get a copy of your credit report fromAnnualCreditReport.com<\/a>.<\/a>\u00a0The three major credit reporting bureaus must give you one free copy per year, so plan to order one every four months.<\/p>\n

Then use one or more of the following tips to boost that three-digit number that has increasing power over our everyday lives.<\/p>\n

1. Dispute errors<\/b>. Mistakes happen.\u00a0You can dispute errors<\/a>\u00a0online throughEquifax<\/a>,\u00a0Experian<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0TransUnion<\/a>. After you\u2019ve fixed any foul-ups, you might try to\u2026<\/p>\n

2. Negotiate<\/b>. You can\u2019t deny that you stopped paying a credit card bill when you were unemployed last year. But you\u00a0can<\/i>\u00a0ask creditors to \u201cerase\u201d that debt or any account that went to collection. Write a letter offering to pay the remaining balance if the creditor will then report the account as \u201cpaid as agreed\u201d or maybe even remove it altogether. (Note: Get the creditor to agree in writing\u00a0before<\/i>\u00a0you make the payment.)<\/p>\n

You might also be able to ask for a \u201cgood-will adjustment.\u201d Suppose you were a pretty good\u00a0Visa<\/a>\u00a0V\u00a0+0.31%<\/a><\/span>\u00a0customer until that period of unemployment, when you made a late payment or two \u2013 which now show up on your credit report. Write a letter to Visa emphasizing your previous good history and ask that the oopsies be removed from the credit report. It could happen. And as long as you\u2019re reading the report, you need to\u2026<\/p>\n

3. Check your limits<\/b>. Make sure your reported credit limits are current vs. lower than they actually are. You don\u2019t want it to look as though you\u2019re maxing out the plastic each month. If the card issuer forgot to mention your newly bumped-up credit limit, request that this be done.<\/p>\n

4. Get a credit card<\/b>. Having one or two pieces of plastic will do good things to your score \u2013\u00a0if<\/i>\u00a0you don\u2019t charge too much and if you pay your bills on time. In other words, be a responsible user of credit.<\/p>\n

Can\u2019t get a traditional card? Try for a\u00a0secured credit card<\/a>, taking care to choose one that reports to all three major credit bureaus. And if you can\u2019t get a secured card, you might ask to\u2026<\/p>\n

5. Become an authorized user<\/b>. This means convincing a relative or friend to be added to his or her existing credit card account. If you\u2019ve had a checkered financial history, don\u2019t be surprised if you hear the word \u201cno\u201d a lot. But you might luck out, especially if you\u2019re a young person who has no history of poor credit use.<\/p>\n

Offer to put an agreement in writing stating how much you can spend and how you will get your share of the bill to the cardholder. Then \u201cdo your part and use the card responsibly,\u201d says\u00a0Beverly Harzog<\/a>, author of\u00a0Confessions of a Credit Junkie<\/em>. In other words, don\u2019t buy more than you can afford and don\u2019t leave your co-signer hanging when the bill is due. The point is to learn to use credit responsibly.<\/p>\n

6. Under-use your cards<\/b>. Yes, we did just tell you to get credit by any means possible. But don\u2019t whip out the plastic to pay for\u00a0everything<\/i>. The \u201ccredit utilization ratio\u201d should be no more than 30% and ideally even less. Harzog says that a 10% credit utilization ratio will \u201cmaximize this part of your FICO score.\u201d<\/p>\n

For example, suppose your Mastercard has a $1,500 limit and you routinely charge a grand a month. It doesn\u2019t matter if you pay it all off before it\u2019s due. What matters is the credit bureaus think \u201cCurtis is using two-thirds of his credit! What a spendthrift!\u201d And if you\u2019re a cash-free kind of guy? Then try to\u2026<\/p>\n

7. Raise your credit limit<\/strong>. Ask your creditors to increase your limit, i.e. making that Mastercard good for up to $3,000. Be careful with this one, though: It works only if you can trust yourself not to increase your spending habits accordingly. Otherwise you\u2019ll be right back to using 66% of your credit each month and how will that look?<\/p>\n

8. Don\u2019t close any cards<\/b>. Canceling a credit card will cause your available credit to drop, which doesn\u2019t look good to a bureau. One way to keep a card active is to use it for a recurring charge such as a utility bill. There\u2019s room for that in your budget, right?<\/p>\n

9. Mix it up.<\/b>\u00a0Using a different kind of credit can make for a modest boost to your score. For example, you might take out a small personal loan from the credit union or buy a piece of furniture or appliance on installment (but only if you\u2019re 100% sure you can and will meet the payment schedule).\u00a0\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

10. Pay your bills on time<\/b>. Seriously. Your payment history \u2013 including the ones you pay late or skip altogether \u2013 makes up a whopping 35% of your FICO score. If you\u2019re absent-minded or merely overwhelmed (Hi there, parents of young children!), then for heaven\u2019s sake, automate your payments. Even better than paying on time is to\u2026<\/p>\n

11. Pay your bills twice a month<\/b>. Using too much of your credit limit at any given moment doesn\u2019t look good. Suppose your limit is $3,000 and a month\u2019s worth of havoc (car repair, doctor bills, plane ticket for kid to get to college) means you\u2019ve charged up $2,900. Sure, you plan to pay in full by the 18th<\/sup>\u00a0of the month \u2013 but until then it looks like you\u2019re maxing out yet another card.<\/p>\n

Instead, make one payment just before the statement closing date and second one right before the due date. The first will likely reduce the balance that the credit bureaus see and the second makes sure you won\u2019t pay interest or a late fee.<\/p>\n

Curtis Arnold is a credit expert and co-founder ofBestPrepaidDebitCards.com.<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

11 WAYS TO RAISE YOUR CREDIT SCORE QUICKLY PERSONAL FINANCE 11 WAYS TO RAISE YOUR CREDIT SCORE,\u00a0FAST Curtis Arnold\u00a0,\u00a0ContributorComment Now \u00a0 Follow Comments\u00a0 A recent survey from the National Foundation for Credit Counseling indicates that more people would be embarrassed to admit their credit scores (30%) than their weight (12%). While crash diets don\u2019t usually … Continue reading 11 WAYS TO RAISE YOUR CREDIT SCORE QUICKLY<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-217","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/clarksvilletnrealestateforsale.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/217","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/clarksvilletnrealestateforsale.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/clarksvilletnrealestateforsale.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clarksvilletnrealestateforsale.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clarksvilletnrealestateforsale.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=217"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/clarksvilletnrealestateforsale.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/217\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":218,"href":"https:\/\/clarksvilletnrealestateforsale.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/217\/revisions\/218"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/clarksvilletnrealestateforsale.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=217"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clarksvilletnrealestateforsale.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=217"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clarksvilletnrealestateforsale.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=217"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}