Sunday, February 22, 2009

Improve your Credit Score

By Kay Riter

You should know your credit score and you should strive to get it as high as possible. Your credit must be good if you ever want to get a loan or credit card. You need to know your credit card and continuously work on building it up.

Bad credit can be caused by paying bills late or not paying them at all. You might not have any credit if you've never been granted any, which is where most young people are. Even despite no credit or bad credit, you can work to repair it and build it up.

If you have no credit, you'll need to get some. Some people mistakenly think they need to get 5 major credit cards and start charging the heck out of them in order to build credit. You actually don't need one credit card to build credit, there are other ways. First of all, paying off any kind of loan will build credit, and you can get one if you need it and don't have credit.

If you are good with your money and have someone that can trust you that has good credit, they can cosign for you. For example, if you want to take out a small loan for a car and you have no credit, your parents can cosign with you to get the loan. If you don't pay, your cosigner will have to pay, but of course, you will pay because that is what you need to do to build credit.

If you don't need a loan or you want to take a less aggressive credit building path, there are other things you can do. If you have a cell phone plan, every time you pay your bill on time, you are building good credit. If you buying a computer or other electronic on credit, each bill you pay will help your credit.

I don't recommend financing something you can afford to pay for now, but financing it and paying it in a month or two can build credit and only cost a little in interest. Pay every bill on time and you can build good credit.

If you have bad credit, you have to improve it the same way. If you haven't been paying bills on time, you must start. This will both stop your credit from spiraling down and reverse it. Pay your bills and your credit will improve.

If you have bad credit, you probably spend more than you make. This is reckless spending. You need to start budgeting and get a plan to pay all your bills on time every time. Stop using credit cards and pay your bills on time. - 15790

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