Tips for improving your credit score:
- Review your credit report for inaccuracies that may hurt your score. Dispute any errors if necessary.
- Make a list of every creditor you have. This may include credit cards, student loans, auto loans, personal loans, mortgage payments, etc. This will also help you not lose track of an old account that could hurt you.
- Set up automatic payments for every loan so you’re always on time.
- Have the payment made a few days before it is due.
- Consider making credit card payments twice a month to keep your balance lower.
- Pay at least the minimum amount due (ideally, you’re paying your credit cards in total).
- Keep your balance less than 30% of your total credit available.
- If you find that based on your spending, you’re consistently more than 30%, consider opening another credit card to spread your credit utilization out or request a credit line increase.
- Consider having one card with all of your recurring bills (internet, utilities, etc.) on it and another that you use for flexible spending (groceries, food, etc.). This will alleviate the headache of having to update all of your recurring bills in the event of fraud.
- Keep your old credit lines available even if you don’t use them. An exception is if you have an annual fee to keep an old credit card open.
- If you have an old credit card, you may need to use it occasionally to keep it open. Just make sure you have automatic payments set up so that you don’t forget to pay it.
- Be careful to open only a little credit in a short time frame. Lenders may assume you’re spending yourself too thin and won’t be able to repay your debts.
- Be careful not to have too many hard inquiries in a short time frame.
By implementing these hacks, you should see progress quickly. The more consistent you are, the higher your score will be over time. I hope this helps!
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