Three Ways To Raise Your Credit Score

Everyone always ask me what they can do to raise their credit score. Here are three ways to raise your credit score and keep it high.

First, keep credit card and other revolving balances low compared to your limits. So, the two ways to make this happen is to pay off debt and raise your limits. This can be accomplished by calling your credit card companies and ask them to raise you limits. Also, if you have a lot of balances on a lot of cards, you can do a debt consolidation that will transfer your debt to installment and in most cases instantly raise you score.

Second, do not close credit cards. As you pay off your credit cards, leave them open. This is because the older the cards you have, the higher the credit score.

Lastly, pay your loans and credit cards on time. I cannot stress how important this is to keeping a high credit score. This is the key to building good credit over the long run.

Do Not Get Comfortable With Credit Card Debt

For many Americans, credit card debt is a big burden on their financial freedom. Yet they can't seem to give them up. This is partially due to the "must have it now" mentality. You see that new big screen TV and have the credit card in your pocket. Even better, the store will give you a sweet deal if you get their store credit card at 29.99% interest. Take two seconds to breath and then remember that you will save money in the long run if you put money aside and pay cash (debit or check). By doing so, you will save yourself from paying interest. Keep this in mind next time you see something you MUST have.

Quick Tip on Paying Down Credit Card Debt

Paying just the minimum payments on all your credit cards means that it will take you years to pay off the balance....5, 10, sometimes 20 years! If you look at your monthly credit card statements, it will tell you how long it will take to pay off the debt just making minimum payments. For those of you trying to pay down your credit card debt, here are some quick helpful tips to help you pay them off as quickly as possible.

First, you need to write down your balances on each card along with the interest rate being charged on each debt. This will allow you to come up with a plan of attack to pay your credit cards off quicker.

Now, instead of paying cards randomly, you need to start paying just the minimum payments on your lowest interest rate debt and apply the most money you can to the debt with the highest interest rate. This will help you tackle your debt faster because you are paying down the most expensive debt first.

After you pay that debt off, move to the next highest debt and repeat until your debt is paid off completely.