How Can I Improve My Credit Score?
Now we start talking about what matters most, where the “rubber meets the road”. What can I do to improve my credit score?
First of all, just as your credit history is unique to you, your plan of improvement for that credit history will be unique as well. There-fore, ultimately I recommend a few minutes of free consultation from someone like myself who has a lot of experience. Remember, there are no “textbooks” available on the subject.
But, I can offer some solid guidelines that should apply in many situations. Here are a few “bullet points” for you. See if they apply.
- If your report shows very few lates but your score is quite low, then what is probably driving the low score is your percentage of revolving debt / highest credit limit. If your percentage is over 30% your score will have come down as a result. If the percentage is over 50% it will have come down further, and if it is close to the maximum credit limit, it would be negatively affected even more. Finally, if your balance exceeds the highest credit limit your credit score will be severely impacted. Here are some examples:
| Highest Limit | Balance | % | Affect on Score | $5,000 | $1,510 | 30.2% | Slight affect | $5,000 | $2,510 | 50.2% | Direct impact | $5,000 | $4,950 | 99.0% | Strong impact | $5,000 | $5,250 | 105% | Severe impact |
