A low credit score can have many consequences including the inability to obtain loan approval, difficulty renting an apartment, and more. If you have run into these issues from a bad credit score, here are a few tips on how to build up to a better credit score.
Pay On Time
A large factor on poor credit scores is late payments on any bills. Ensuring you are paying all of your bills on time every month is vital. If you always seem to miss your due date by a few days, setting up automatic payments or payment reminders will assist you in avoiding future late payments. It’s also important to note that if you have any past-due accounts, bring them to a current balance to avoid further fees and negative impacts on your credit score.
Reduce Your Credit Utilization
Creditors see maxed out credit cards as major red flags. Your credit utilization ratio tells lenders the credit you have available and how much of it you are actually using. Creditors like to see this number below 30% and the lower, the better. If you have a high ratio currently, you can begin to decrease your ratio by paying off credit card debt and keeping your credit card balances low or at zero.
Create Better Habits
When building your credit score, it’s important to understand how you obtained a bad score in the first place. If you create new credit accounts but continue the same spending habits, this will only lead to further problems financially. Begin by only purchasing items you can afford. When your credit card payments are due be sure to pay them on time and pay for more than the minimum amount due. Paying your payments fully should be your optimal goal.
Ask for Help
Assistance from family and friends can greatly help you build your credit score. Opening a joint account with a trusted family or friend or asking them to cosign a loan with you can be beneficial to your credit history. If you are having issues obtaining a credit card, you can also ask them to allow you to become an authorized user on their account. This will allow you to borrow responsibly without the need to be approved for your own sole account.
If you are in the process of rebuilding your credit score but are in need of financing, there are numerous lenders that are able to help. While applying all of these helpful tips to boost your score, check out bad credit loans in Canada in the meantime.
