Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Fix my Credit, Help!

Does this sound like you? I don’t even know how many times I’ve heard that phrase. Friends, relatives, colleagues, all have the same question. “How do I fix my credit”?

There are no shortcuts in credit repair, if somebody tells you that you can significantly increase your credit score by doing just one thing, then he’s probably just hyping you up so he can get a couple of hundreds or more from you. Remember credit scores are calculated based on different factors so you have to be doing different things religiously so you can get to that well sought after 720 and above credit score.

Now, don’t be alarmed by the “doing different thing religiously”, it really is easy but you need to be very disciplined and you have to have a plan. Without a plan, you won’t know whether you are achieving something or not.

Here’s what you need to do.
  • First and foremost you have to know where you stand. Know what your credit score is.

  • Study your credit report and find out what is causing your credit score to drop. Ask yourself these questions.
    • How much debt do I have?
    • How many unpaid bills?
    • Did somebody give a negative report?
    • Have I defaulted on a loan?
    • Have I failed to pay taxes?
    • Have I been recently reported to a collections agency and other factors that will obviously affect your score?
Once you know what is causing your credit problem, then you can work up a plan and decide how you want to go about in boosting your credit score. That way you won’t hear yourself say “fix my credit please!” anymore.

When you seek professional credit counseling or credit help, counselors will generally work with you to help you develop a personalized strategy that expressly addresses your credit problems and financial history.

Seeking professional help is wise. It’s always better to have somebody who “knows” to guide you in the process. But you have to be careful on whom to trust, sadly, there are companies out there who are charging an arm and a leg for services that you can get at half the price.

For a trusted and affordable credit repair service, click here.

Or, you can do it yourself. Just follow these simple steps and I guarantee that your score will go up. Not overnight, of course.
  • Start paying your obligations on time.
  • Pay down your debts. Excessive debt is alarming! You’ll have a high risk of over extending your credit.
  • Make sure that you don’t reach your credit limit. Maintain 50% credit. Example if your credit card’s credit limit is $2000, make sure that you don’t use up more than $1000 of it
  • Manage different types of credit. Lenders like it when they see that you can effectively manage various types of credit. Having a car loan, mortgage, and credit cards that you are not defaulting on is a gem.
The secret is following through your plan and not rushing things, you probably won’t see any significant changes in a few months, but as long as you remain a responsible debtor, your credit score will surely increase and creditors will be lining up to get your business.

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