How to Improve Your Credit Score

Are you getting ready for a big purchase like a new car but a less-than-ideal or bad credit score that’s making it difficult? If you are wondering “how to boost my credit score” so you can lower your interest rates, improve your credit history, and more, turn to the experts at Land Rover Chandler near Gilbert. Explore our guide of tips to increase credit scores and contact us if you have any questions.

1. Check Your Credit Reports

It’s a good idea to get an official credit report from multiple sources to make sure there are no discrepancies that don’t line up. The Fair Credit Reporting Act entitles you one free copy of your credit report a year from each of these major credit bureaus:

• Experian
• Equifax
• TransUnion

You can access these reports at AnnualCreditReport.com. Go over each report to ensure this isn’t a mistake on one of them that could be affecting your credit score.

2. Assess Your Debts

Two major factors affecting your credit score include:

• Your debt to credit ratio: How much available credit you have vs. how much you have actually charged. Ideally, you want to keep your credit card charges under 30% of the available balance every month.
• Number of cards with balances: The more cards with balances, the lower your score.

Take stock of all your debts, including the dollar amount and the number of debtors you have debt with (including student loans, mortgages, credit cards, and more.)

3. Create a Payment Plan

A good way to start tackling debt in Gilbert is to pay off small balances on cards and then getting rid of unnecessary cards. Be sure to also prioritize any debts that are with collections agencies. Then you will have more wiggle room to slowly reducing larger debts.

4. Open a Credit Card

This may sound like the opposite advice given in step three, but if you don’t have large amounts of debt your credit score may be low simply because you have never had a credit card or loan, which means you’ve had no opportunity to establish a good credit history. Here’s how to amend that:

• Open a card and pay your bills fully every month.
• Try to stay under 30% of your credit limit.
• If you want to stay on the safe side, just pick one recurring monthly charge like a utility bill and pay it with your credit card in timely payments.

If you don’t qualify for a regular credit card, consider a secured credit card. This type of card has a small limit and usually requires an initial deposit of up to a couple hundred dollars to open.

5. Build a Credit Age

Building a good payment history and good credit score will take time. If you don’t have much time before you have to make a big purchase, you can become a user on a family member’s account that has a good credit score. Their good credit history will begin to reflect well on you.

Find Out More Finance Tips at Land Rover Chandler

Get more car buying tips on things like guaranteed financing to get ready for your next purchase. When you are ready for a new car, visit the Finance Center at Land Rover Chandler near Tempe. We can go over all your auto loan options, and you can even use our payment calculator tool so you can get a better idea of what your monthly payments will look like!

Trying to pay off old debts before you do anything else? Trading in a financed car may help!