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March 31, 2022 Personal Finance

Money Habits That Can Boost Your Credit Score

Credit scores can seem to fluctuate like the Oklahoma weather. Every time you think you know what it’ll be, it surprises you- whether it’s good, bad, or ugly. These tips can help you boost your credit score to make you feel more in control of your financial outlook.

Pay Bills Early

Timely monthly payments are the best way to boost your score. Even if you only pay the minimum amount, always make a payment before the deadline to avoid fees and a credit score hit. Whenever you have extra money, pay more then the minimum amount to not only reduce your next payment, but to help you continue to grow your credit score.

Multiple Payments

Make more than one monthly payment toward your credit card bill. This not only chips away at your principle and keeps interest low, but it ensures you are paying no extra fees and is giving you great credit card utilization.

Sign Up For Alerts

Sign up for credit card balance and payment due date alerts so you never miss a payment and know when your account is getting low.

The more you monitor and know what is going on in your account, the more likely you are to see discrepancies or bills that bounce and get them taken care of before they start destroying your credit score.

Sign Up For Experian Boost

Make your monthly bills count toward your credit score when you sign up. This allows your credit score to feed off all of your monthly bills like phone bills, utilities, rent, or streaming services. It shows credit companies that you are making reliable payments each month, therefore boosting your credit score.

Check Your Credit Report

Sign up to get your credit report once a month. This allows you to look for fraudulent charges and dispute anything that is suspicious. This may be the easiest way to boost your credit score since it wasn’t your error!

Don’t Open New Cards

Keep the ones you have open, but don’t start a new credit line when trying to improve your score. Be aware though to never close an existing account. Doing so takes away years of your credit score history and lowers your credit score.

Have A Variety of Payments & Accounts

You get a credit score based on a variety of factors, one of them being that it pulls all of your payments, loans, and accounts to see if you make on time payments.

The more variety of accounts or loans you have out, the more places it can pull from to see that you are making multiple payments on time every month. If you are in a place to make on time payments, take out a loan on a car or home as well as your monthly bills to show your credibility with a credit mix.

Never Max Out Your Credit Card

It is suggested that you only use 30% of your credit card limit at a time. Even though you may have a high credit limit, but sure to never get to close to the max as that lowers your credit score. Always make sure to pay it off at the end of each month as well.

Safeguard Your Credit Score

Another important aspect of keeping a good credit score is saving money, or creating an emergency fund. Life is full of unexpected expenses and troubles, so it is important to have some money set aside for emergencies. If something happens, you want to still have money to make payments on time and keep your credit score in good standing.

Each of these suggestions and more will help you build your credit from the ground up. Whether you have bad credit or no credit at all, use these tips to get started on your financial journey.