Tips To Improve Your Credit Score?

Your Credit Score – Turning a Necessary Evil into a Money-Saving Tool

Many people view their Credit Score as a complex, frustrating, “Necessary Evil.” Just when you think you understand your score, it drops a few points, leaving you confused and right back where you started. This is not the struggle of just those with poor or below-average credit; even those with excellent scores are befuddled by this scoring system.  Now, the exact scoring system for your Credit Score is only known by the Credit Bureaus, but some credit gurus have been able to crack the code and show us the basics of this scoring system. The good news is that if your score isn’t where you want it to be, you can improve your credit score!

First, why should I care about improving my credit score?

In America, your Credit Score is used by over 90% of lenders to determine if they will lend you money. This means that if you want to borrower money, then you need to know where your credit score is. Not only do lenders base their lending decision off of your score, they also offer better interest rates and costs to those with higher credit scores. Box Home Loans is a great example of this, we are able to offer much lower costs for those with higher credit scores. This can equal up to hundreds of thousands of dollars throughout your lifetime.

How is my Score calculated?

As mentioned before, only the credit bureaus know the exact system for your score, but here’s a basic breakdown of what factors affect your score and how much they affect your score:

So, how do I improve my score and start saving money?

• As you can see above, making payments on time is the most important. Get caught up on your payments, and keep paying on time.
• Next, make sure you keep the amount of money on your credit cards under 50% of your limit. Once you go over 50%, this can decrease your score as lenders like to see that you aren’t maxing out your available credit.
• DON’T CLOSE THOSE OLD CREDIT CARDS! It is a complete myth that paying off and closing accounts will help your score. The longer you keep accounts open, the longer history a lender can look at and the better your score. If you do pay off or transfer the balance of your card, don’t immediately close your old credit card.

These three tips make up about 80% of your credit score. Making your payments on time, keeping your total debt low, and keeping accounts open for longer will help get your score up and where it needs to be. The sooner you start, the sooner you’ll see that your credit score isn’t all bad, and can actually save you a lot of money over your lifetime.