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Help Your Credit5 Simple Steps

Step 1: Pay Your Bills

Setup an bullet proof system for paying your bills

• Sign up for bill pay through your bank• Sign up for payment alerts from your credit cards• Setup alerts in your digital calendar or phone• Do whatever it takes to ensure you never miss a payment

How you pay your bills is the biggest positive or negative factor in scoring your credit

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Step 2: Credit Utilization

Use a small percentage of your available credit

• Good credit scores are balance of using credit, but not too much• Using more than 50% of your available credit is considered risky• Excellent credit scores typical use less than 30% of their credit

Regularly check your credit report and score to see how your use of credit is seen by creditors.

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Step 3: Dispute Inaccuracies

Dispute errors and inaccuracies on your credit report

• Over 19% of credit reports have mistakes• Once corrected, nearly 1% errors raise scores more than 20 points• You don’t want to be the 1%

Are you the 1%? Regular review of your credit report and score will keep you out of the 1%.

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Step 4: Applying for Credit

Avoid applying for lots of new credit at one time

• When you apply for new credit, the lender does a “hard” credit inquiry• Credit inquiries are reported and scored negatively• Numerous credit applications can ding your credit score

Watch your credit report for unknown credit inquiries. These can alert your to identity fraud.

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Step 5: Closing Credit Cards

Don’t Close Credit Card Accounts You Don’t Use

• Closing credit cards can lower your available credit• Your percentage of credit use will suddenly • Credit (use) utilization is a major credit scoring factor

Track your credit utilization with a monthly review of your accounts on your credit report.

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How is Your Credit Doing?

Regularly review of your credit report and score

• Check for mistakes and inaccuracies• Protect yourself from identity fraud• Look for opportunities to improve

Get a Free Credit Report and Score every 6 months from Quizzle.com

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