5 Key Factors of Your Credit Report
- On-time Payments: Showing a good history of paying your bills on time is important. That’s a given, right? Keep in mind that even 1-2 late payments can take your credit score down.
- TIP: Set your monthly bills up on Auto-Pay for at least the minimum amount due – you can always adjust the amount to pay before the payment hits for a larger payment or make an extra payment to pay it down/off faster, but this way you at least know you have stream-lined the payment to be paid on time each month.
- Credit Utilization: This is the Percentage of your available credit that you are using. Ideally, this percentage should only be between 10-30%.
- TIP: Paying down debt is a great way to lower your credit utilization, but it takes extra money you may or may not have. Look also to expand capacity – the easiest way is to ask your current credit card company(ies) for a credit line increase (and then DO NOT USE it). You can also try applying for another credit card with no annual fee, etc. that you do not intend to use*(see #4 below)
- Having a Mix of Credit
- Not Actively “Looking” for a Bunch of Credit and/or Applying to More than One Credit Line at time: Too many inquiries in short period of time can lower your score.
- TIP: If you’re looking for a credit line to use or to expand capacity – Do Your Research! Look at various cards and offers before applying for anything. Use a source like www.cardhub.com find cards that also fit within your credit score for a better chance of approval.
- Length of Credit Relationships: The longer the relationship the better.
- TIP: Think twice before closing out a credit card after you pay it off, especially if you have had it for a long time. If there is no annual fee and no cost to keep it open at a $0 balance, then keep it open. Another idea to keep it open and active (especially if there is some kind of rewards on the card you want) is to pay your monthly bills with it – and pay it off at the end of each month. However, if you think you would be tempted to “run it back up”, then cut the card up so you can’t use it.
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