If you have poor credit, it can make things extremely difficult. Getting an apartment, buying a car, getting a credit card with a fair interest rate…these are all that much harder with poor credit.
If you have poor credit, you may be wondering what steps you can take to improve your credit score quickly…
7 Quick Ways to Increase Your Credit
Below are 7 quick ways that you can increase your credit score and your credit limit. If you follow the tips below, you’ll greatly increase your chances of improving your credit in the shortest amount of time possible…
1. Get Your Bills in Order (Use a Calendar or Tracker)
The reason many people fall behind on their bills and lower their credit scores is a lack of structure. Many people simply try to pay their bills as they come up. Then they lose their mail, forget to pay the amount they owe, and allow late payments and fees to rack up. These late payments end up causing credit to lower over time.
In order to avoid late payments, get your bills in order! While this may sound like a simple solution, it’s one that most people aren’t considering. You need a bill calendar or tracker. While you can add your bills to your physical calendar or the calendar on your phone, you should consider a separate calendar or tracker for your bills. There are some excellent apps out there that are specifically built to track your bills, expenses, and income. They provide reminders and show you which bills are coming up and when.
Take an hour and punch all of your monthly bills into an app or add them to a calendar. You’ll be grateful for the reminders, and you’ll be able to pay your bills on time.
2. Keep an Eye on Your Credit
How often do you check your credit score? Did you know once a year you are able to view your credit score from the three major credit bureaus for free? You should definitely take advantage of this. You’ll be able to see how your credit is doing and take steps to improve it from there.
Another option is free credit score (estimate) trackers. Some banks actually offer free credit score trackers you can opt into. There are also websites like Credit Karma that offer you free credit score estimates. Keep in mind with these sites, though, you aren’t getting an accurate score. It is only an estimate. Still, it can help you to see if your credit score is potentially going up or down, and to what degree.
3. Set Up Autopay
Autopay is such a simple solution that people often forget or ignore it. Others are simply nervous to set up autopay in case anything comes up. With that said, if you have financial stability, there is no reason to avoid autopay.
Autopay ensures all of your payments are made on time without question. On top of this, some companies will actually offer discounts for setting up autopay. Even $5 a month will add up over time. This means you are saving money while improving your credit. Don’t be afraid of autopay! Just make sure you set up your bill tracker, so you know when the payment is going to hit.
4. Address Delinquencies
Delinquencies, collections, and charge-offs are poison to your credit score. If you are delinquent, in collections, or are otherwise so far behind that companies are taking action against you, prioritize these bills and get them caught up. Delinquencies, collections, and charge-offs are some of the worst things that affect your credit score.
Contact your creditor if you have these delinquencies, collections, or charge-offs and see if there is room to negotiate. Oftentimes, companies would prefer some money over no money. If you offer an amount for a settlement, they may go for it.
5. Have Negative Entries Removed
Negative entries can only sit on your credit for a certain amount of time. Your outdated debt is supposed to fall off on its own. If it hasn’t, address these negative entries and have them removed. You can write the company a letter addressing the dispute. From there, the company should address the issue.
6. Avoid New Lines of Credit
The last thing you want to do when you already have a lot of outstanding debt is to add more debt! Avoid new lines of credit. If you are trying to get a new line of credit, the company will pull your credit to see if you can open a new line. This affects your credit score.
The older the credit you have, the better. You don’t want to decrease the average age of your credit.
7. Ask for a Payment Plan
If you are having trouble paying a debt, you aren’t alone. Many people have trouble paying off their debt. Companies understand this. That’s why many companies offer payment plans. With a payment plan, you can pay off your debt over time and show the company you owe the debt to that you are serious about paying off your collections. This can help to reduce your interest payments, which means you’ll end up owing less in the long run.
How Pyramid Credit Repair Can Help
Pyramid Credit Repair focuses on targeting inefficiencies. We check your debt management, spending habits, credit management, and other factors. We also provide thorough credit audits to get a better idea of why your credit score is what it is. From there, we figure out the best ways to improve your credit score. We’ll help you to put together a schedule so you can make on-time payments. We will also help you with disputes and credit restoration.
If you have any questions about what can be done to improve your credit, reach out today. We’ll discuss the different plans we have available with you and help you to find the right plan to meet your needs.
You don’t have to settle for poor credit! We’ll help you to boost your credit in no time!
