Don’t have a whole lot of time to bring up your credit score?

 

Here are some quick ways to get a handle on your score in less than 30 days!

 

Pay down your credit cards. Paying off your installment loans can help increase your score, but in most cases not as dramatically as paying down or paying off revolving accounts such as credit cards. The FICO model and even the Vantage scoring system now used by the Big 3 credit bureaus weight credit card debt more heavily. Each card you carry, combined with your revolving credit line, should be below 25%. If your goal is to increase your credit score – forget about paying down your high interest rate cards first. Work on getting the lower balances down first to reap the most improvement in credit score.

 

Use your cards as lightly as possible. Even if you pay your balance in full, your available credit is averaged over your billing cycle, which is sometimes less than 30 days. For example, if your credit limit on a card is $5,000 and you charge $5,000, your credit balance is still going to show $2500 (a 50% usage limit) even if you pay it off each month. This will likely make your score plunge.

 

Small businesses must also limit credit use. For most small business owners, credit cards are a lifeline for the purchase of goods and supplies every month. Maxing out business lines of credit each month can hurt them. Wait – these are business cards, you say? Yes, they are. However, most small business owners still have to personally guarantee their business cards, which means they show up on personal credit reports. If you run a small business and you find yourself needing to use all of the credit available to you on a card, you may want to consider getting another card to spread out the credit lines a little.

 

Make sure your credit report is accurate! Is your credit report correctly reporting your credit limits for your cards? Many times credit card issuers don’t update their databases as frequently as they should and this can taint your credit report with inaccurate information. Order a copy of your credit report and review it. If you find any information that needs to be refreshed, call your credit card issuer and ask them to update the list. You can also challenge the limits with the credit bureaus if something is wrong. Keep your eyes on your credit report every month.

 

”The credit report has a mind and the way it thinks effects the score, whether good or bad.”

 

The key is to figure this out by consulting with experts like The Credit Physician, who empower you to take control of your credit.

 

 

For more information, write us md@creditphysician.net or visit http://www.creditphysician.net

-
About the Author:
Written by: Michael Malloy ( The Credit Physician ) This author has been researching the anatomy of the credit report for years,giveing readers the information to empower them to take control of there credit reports. www.creditphysician.net  md@creditphysician.net  
Article Source

Filed under: Uncategorized

Like this post? Subscribe to my RSS feed and get loads more!