Your credit rating (or credit score) is one of the most fundamental parts of an adult’s personal finance life.
But just because it’s important doesn’t mean that most people know how to keep it under control. Nonetheless, your credit rating isn’t the mystery that many people make it out to be. There are numerous ways to improve your credit rating, without having to break a sweat. The infographic from icount you see has twenty tips, a few of which we’ll go into a bit more detail here.
- Pay Your Balance Twice a Month. This is one of the most important. If you carry a balance, especially if it is close to the available credit limit for one card, pay it off twice a month. When you carry a balance near your credit limit, it tells your credit reporting agency that you are stretched to the limit, financially speaking. Paying off the balance shows you are in control, and earns you a better score.
- Don’t Close Unused Accounts. Unless you have literally dozens of unused accounts, having numerous open accounts is good for your credit rating, even if they go empty and unused. This increases your overall available credit limit, which, as we know from above, makes you look good when you use well less than what’s available. Never cancel your very oldest account, because the longer your credit history, the better.
- Dispute Old Problems. Check your credit report to find out about credit problems which are lowering your credit rating. You can dispute these directly on the credit reporting agency’s website. Only do so if the matter is over 1) a small amount, 2) is an old account, and/or 3) has been paid off since the issue was sent to the CRA.
There are many other ways to improve your credit score. Spend a few minutes with the infographic and a few hours implementing its advice, and you should see improvement in weeks.