7 Ways to Maintain a Good Credit Score
Hi everyone. Today I found a great article in Kendall Auto Idaho that I know many of you will enjoy reading or possibly relate to. The original article can be found here - https://news.kendallautoidaho.com/article/maintain-good-credit-score - if you’d like to read the article there, or I’ve pasted parts of it here to share it. It’s well worth a read.
Maintaining a good credit score does more than help you get great terms on a home loan. It can also lower the cost of insurance, help you get into an apartment, or even help you land a job. These Kendall Auto Idaho suggestions will help you maintain a good credit score.
Understand what goes into a credit score. Five key factors affect your credit score. They include payment history, debt level, credit age, credit mix, and recent credit. If you need to raise your credit score, analyze which of these factors may be bringing it down and do what's in your power to fix it.
Pay your bills. You probably already realized a good credit score could be dinged by not paying your bills. If you're not in a financial position right now to do so, then you have more things to worry about than a credit score. Those of you who are able to pay bills on time, it behooves you to set up automatic payments. Your credit score only knows that you paid a bill late. It doesn't care that you paid it late because of an oversight.
Check your credit report. It's free. Things you need to check include accounts on your report that aren't yours, late payment reports that aren't accurate, financial hits such as bankruptcies that should have been removed but haven't been, and any negative information that's been on there for more than seven years.
Apply for credit sparingly. Crazy people go on wild spending sprees, opening up lines of credit at all the finest shops and boutiques, taking out loans at credit unions and banks. People do not lend money to crazy people. And although you may not be crazy, if you start applying for loans at every car dealership, every department store, and every bank within a 46-mile radius, they'll think you're crazy.
Pay more than the minimum. Not only is paying more than the minimum a way to reduce interest payments and pay off loans faster, it shows lending institutions that you are in control of your finances. People like to lend money to people who are in control of their finances.
Manage your debt. In addition to helping you maintain a good credit score, managing your debt makes sound financial sense. Don't max out all your credit cards. Your actual debts should be just a percentage of the debt you could have if you were irresponsible...or crazy.
Keep your credit history long. Creditors look for consistency over the long haul. They monitor how long you've been consistently paying specific creditors as a contributing factor to credit worthiness. Keeping accounts open allows you to reap the benefits of your positive credit history.
Hope you enjoyed the article. Please feel free to contact me on (0400) 032-110 or email at [email protected]
Thanks,
Bill Mitchell