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I have mentioned before that my credit has not always been stellar. It took a lot of hard work for me to get my score where it is today, comfortably over 800. I am really proud of it and as nerdy as it sounds, it’s something I really celebrate. I did want to share some of the things I did and how to get your credit score above 800 as well!
Step 1: Go through your credit with a fine-tooth comb: This is the VERY first thing I personally did. If you haven’t done this before it may shock you but stay with it. Go through your credit and flag anything that looks off. Maybe there’s an account you don’t recognize. Or maybe there’s a late mark that is incorrect. GO THROUGH EVERY SINGLE PART of your credit report.
Step 2: Take stock of your debt/income: Once you’ve done this go through your debt and your income. I made an excel doc of each account, what I owed, what the minimum payments were etc. Some things like student loans, mortgage, car payment I didn’t change because those payment amounts are what they are. But any credit card account or bill got a tab and then you can see in black and white what you owe. Then look at your income and figure out what you can put towards that debt each month.
Step 3: Set a plan to pay it off: I won’t tell you that there is one way to do this as so many different ways exist. Do a little research to figure out what the best plan for you is. I personally go towards what has the highest interest rates and try to pay those first.
Step 4: Dispute Dispute Dispute: If you see ANYTHING that is not correct. From an address, to an account, to a bill, late payment, closed account etc DISPUTE IT! You can easily raise your credit score by doing this alone. It’s crazy how much false info can be on your credit report. You know who can help you with this? Lexington Law that’s who! Their credit repair services can help you go through your credit, dispute negative items, and clean it up! I only wish I knew about them 10 years ago!
Step 5: Pay your bills on time: This is a really easy way to keep your credit score up! Once you have repaired it and you are on the track just pay all bills on time. If you get a bill in the mail pay it. Pay off your cards each month. That’s key for us. We don’t buy what we can’t afford, we don’t carry balances. This is the easiest thing you can do. Here is some awesome info about late payments!
Step 6: Change your attitude: What I mean by this is change your attitude about spending, about money, about debt. If you can’t buy it don’t buy it. If you have a lot of debt find places to cut spending. There is no stress like money stress.
Step 7: Don’t use store cards: This was something I was super guilty of in my 20s. Store cards tend to have super high-interest rates. I am not saying NEVER get a store card but do your research. You are better off having one or two cards you can use anywhere.
Step 8: Keep your utilization low: This one was the hardest for me to really understand. But basically you want to keep your credit utilization under 30%. So if you have a $10,000 limit don’t use over $3,000 at a time. But this goes for ALL of your credit. Here is a great article on it!
Step 9: Monitor it nonstop: So once you’ve gotten your score up and you are happy with it you need to continuously monitor your credit. So just as you did at the beginning just go through it nonstop. Set alerts up with credit monitoring bureaus and that way anytime a new account is opened you get an alert! Lex on Track from Lexington Law is SUCH an awesome service! I highly suggest checking it out!
So now what? Well just sit back and enjoy your awesome credit score and work your booty off to keep it that way! Having a good credit score really gives you so much freedom to be able to do things like take out loans, get a lower interest rate on a mortgage, etc.
Do you have anything you’ve learned from improving your credit score?
