Repair your credit in just a few steps. How many of you know the average credit score in the U.S.? Based on my research the average score is 710, but that doesn’t mean everyone has good credit.
With the economic crash (2008) and now the pandemic many of you have either poor to no credit which can hold you back from the things you need; buying a car, renting a house or apartment, buying a home, and or starting or growing your own business.
Learn How to Build and Repair your personal and business credit
If you’re a business owner and as your business grows you will need to start building some business credit. Start by opening up a business account and creating your business profile. If you don’t have any credit or have bad credit then you need to start building and repairing your credit. Furthermore, it’s important you keep your finances separate and avoid comingling your funds!
If this sounds like you do not worry, here are some quick steps to help you repair and fix your personal credit
Check Your Credit Report and Start to Repair Your Credit It is a habit to check your annual credit report as it contains important information about your credit information. Credit reports are provided by 3 major credit bureaus: Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. You can get free annual credit reports at AnnualCreditReport.com.
It’s also important to check your credit score at least every 3 months especially when you start working on it. Some credit card companies offer free credit scoring. Checking your own score only requires a soft credit inquiry, and it can be done after you pull your credit report they usually provide you with special offers, so keep an eye out for the offers provided to you, but more importantly, it doesn’t damage your score. We recommend checking your score once per month thereafter.
- Dispute any errors on your credit report
Always do your due diligence and research because unfortunately, credit bureaus sometimes make errors.
The first step is to obtain your annual free credit report. Make sure to obtain your credit scores these are all crucial steps in order to look for errors. If you spot any, it’s a relatively simple process to dispute those errors and have them removed.
If you don’t have an account setup with each credit bureau make sure to create one, so you can file your online disputes.
- Repair your Credit by setting your budget as well as auto-pay
Analyze your monthly budget and create a payment/repayment plan. Remember that your payment history makes up 35% of your credit score. Therefore if you want to fix your credit, you should focus on setting a monthly budget and payments. Now, I know that it can be very challenging to pay all of your bills on time, but I found a simple hack to get this right: autopay.
You’ll find that some companies don’t provide an autopay option—like one-off credit cards. So make sure you set these accounts as a recurring reminder on your phone, or calendar or pay them as soon as you can.
- Keep your credit utilization low
It’s important to keep your credit utilization ratio low therefore compare your credit card balances to your overall credit card limit.
Therefore, if you have outstanding debts make sure to pay them off as soon as possible in order to help improve your payment history, but also reduce and keep your credit utilization ratio under 30%.
Now you also have to keep in mind that when you inquire about ‘old debts’ you are reviving that debt all over again. Debts stay on your credit for between 7-10 years so make sure to analyze your debt and see which ones are about to be removed from your credit score and which ones are worth negotiating down.
The other important thing to remember is that when you start paying down your debt you will see a temporary dip in your credit score, but as you continue to work on improving your credit your score will improve as well as your situation.
5. How the credit repair game works
What I found out and learned throughout my credit journey. I learned that paying off debt all at once will hurt your credit as well as closing down debt, having too much or not enough credit, as well as trying to fix your credit will also hurt your credit. So what the heck do you do is the ‘million dollar question’ – right?
I started by creating a plan and evaluating all my debts and deciphering which ones were not mine, what debts were about to be removed, debts that needed to be worked on or disputed, and what new debts I needed to start working on getting.
Yes, you heard right! You have to get into debt in order to improve your credit.
If you don’t have any credit make sure to start off with a secured credit card via your bank. You can also get prequalified for credit without it affecting your credit score.
6. Use an app to track your progress
Keeping track of all your assets, and your credit cards, and setting a budget is super important. That’s why I recommend this amazing app provided by Intuit. I’ve been using this amazing app for years and I love it and highly recommend it. It keeps track of all your bills, reminds you of when your bills are due, and overall helps you stay on track with all your bills.
