If you’re serious about improving your credit score in 2018, you’re sure to see positive changes. Improving your credit score takes consistency and intention. With the right habits in place, you’ll see progress over time.
Your FICO score, the most commonly used credit score, has a significant impact on your life and financial health. Lenders look at your FICO score to determine whether to give you credit and what interest rates to charge. FICO scores range from 300 to 850. The higher your credit score, the better! Healthy credit scores allow you to receive lower interest rates, saving you thousands of dollars in the long run. On the flip side, having a low credit score can cause you to struggle to get credit and pay thousands more dollars over time on your credit than someone with a higher score.
The good news is, you can improve your credit score. Here’s 5 tips for improving your credit score in 2018.
Pay Your Bills Before They’re Due
Your FICO score takes your payment history into account. It’s important to pay your bills on time every month. Lenders can report a late payment to credit bureaus 30 days after the payments due date. To avoid making late payments, make an effort to pay your bills before they’re due.
Reduce the Balances on Your Credit Cards
Making payments on your credit cards is one of the fastest ways to give your credit score a bump. You can be proactive about getting your balances down by paying more than the minimum payment on your cards each month.
Pay Off Small Balances
Paying off credit cards with small balances can boost your credit score. Retail credit cards are a great place to start! Get moving on paying off the cards you used to get discounts on gifts for the holidays. Your credit score will thank you for it.
Leave Your Credit Accounts Open
After you’ve paid off a credit card, it’s easy to feel like you should close the account. But, closing the account can actually have a negative impact on your credit score. Having credit accounts open with a zero-balance strengthens your credit utilization ratio since you aren’t using all of the credit available to you. So, keep those cards open and show them a little bit of love from time to time to make sure the accounts stay open.
Use a Credit Repair Company
Credit repair companies can help you clean up your credit report and increase your score. USA Credit Repair’s specialists can help remove negative marks on your credit report. You will see a credit score boost of at least 90 points in the first 90 days! We’ve helped more than 800,000 people take back control and repair their credit. If you have collections, late payments, charge offs, liens, bankruptcies, judgments, repossessions or foreclosures on your report, we can help! Sign up online or give us a call at (800)509-5751. We can’t wait to help you get started today.