While it’s relatively easy to get a credit card or a line of credit opened unto you, maintaining good credit or fixing credit problems takes a lot more work. Just a few simple mistakes with your credit can leave you hurting with regards to your credit score. And if you’ve made more than a few simple mistakes, such as going deep into debt or having to file bankruptcy, it could take quite a few years for you to come back from those issues. So to help start this process and begin rebuilding your credit, here are three things you can do today that will help you to repair your credit.
Get Your Payments In On Time
One factor that could be hurting your credit score is failing to make payments on time. Even if you’re just a few days late, you could see the repercussions on a credit report and feel the consequences in a lower credit score. According to MyFICO.com, one of the best things you can do to ensure you’re making your payments on time is to create payment reminders. Either by yourself or with the help of your creditor, you can set up monthly payment reminds so you never have to worry about forgetting when any payments on your credit are due.
Understand Your Good Debt
Although having a lot of debt is bad, there are forms of good debt that actually positively affect your credit. Some people think that by never using credit they will automatically have a good credit score. However, you have to have proven that you know how to handle the responsibility of credit in order to attain a good credit score. For this reason, Dana Dratch, a contributor to Bankrate.com, recommends maximizing your good debt—which is the debt you’ve managed and paid off without issue—in order to use that to repair other instances in which you let your debt get the best of you. Good debt can act as a sort of counterbalance to your bad debt, so don’t go out of your way to get it removed from your credit history.
Eliminate Some of Your Lines of Credit
Another credit mistake that can negatively impact your credit score is having too many lines of credit or applying for a lot of credit in a short period of time. Kali Gledis, a contributor to Credit.com, shares that inquiring into the amount of credit you can tap into can hurt your credit and doesn’t show you as a good credit risk. So if you’ve taken out a lot of credit or have applied for a few credit cards recently, you may want to close those lines or slow do on your applications to see your credit score begin to rise.
If you’ve let your debt get out of control and affect your credit, consider using some of the tips mentioned above to begin repairing your credit today.
