2017 Must Do's

Here are some ways that you can boost your credit score in 2017

1. Get your credit report, and report any errors you find.

Any move to boost your credit score must begin with checking your credit report. Get a free copy of your report from all three credit bureaus – Experian, Equifax and TransUnion – once a year fromAnnualCreditReport.com, and go over them thoroughly. Make sure everything you see is accurate, and if something isn't, report it immediately. Some things to look for:

Accounts you don't recognize.
Late payments you didn't make.
Closed accounts listed as open.
Credit limits that are too high or too low.
If you see any inaccuracies, gather up any evidence you have and notify the credit bureau in writing. The bureau then has up to 45 days to investigate, and if the piece of information cannot be verified in that time, it must be removed.

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2. Get a new credit card, and use it sparingly.

A new credit card helps reduce your utilization rate, which is the second-most important factor in credit scoring formulas. Here's how: Say you have a card with a $5,000 limit and a balance of $2,500. That makes your utilization rate 50 percent, well above the recommended total of 30 percent or less. However, add another $5,000 limit card and suddenly your utilization is slashed. Now you have $10,000 in credit and a $2,500 balance for a utilization rate of 25 percent. That decrease will likely help your score creep higher; It will also likely offset any temporary drop that can come when you sign up for a new card.

Don't add too many cards at a time, though. Ten percent of the credit scoring formula focuses on new credit. Applying for too many cards at once or applying too often can make it look like you are experiencing some financial problems and make you appear riskier to a lender. Even though it could reduce your utilization even more dramatically, applying for too many cards in too short a time can actually hurt you.

drag your score lower

3. Make payments more frequently.

Consider paying your credit card bill twice a month. Even if you don't increase the total amount you pay in a month, paying multiple times in a month can help your score. Here's how: A credit report is a snapshot of your finances at a moment in time. If you have a balance on your card at that moment the snapshot is taken, it can drag your score down, even if you intend to pay that balance in full at the end of the month and never pay any interest. However, if you make multiple payments each month – say on the 1st and 15th of the month – you improve the odds that your balance will be low when that next snapshot is taken.

Lower balances bring lower utilization rates. Lower utilization rates bring higher credit scores.

4. Make larger payments.

This one goes without saying. Those with the best credit scores tend to pay their balances off at the end of every month. If you can't do that, you absolutely must pay more than the minimum. Once again, lower balances bring lower utilization rates, lower utilization rates bring higher credit scores and higher credit scores save you money.

5. Pay off the card that is closest to being maxed out.

Your utilization rate isn't just about comparing your total balance to your total available credit. Individual card rates have an impact, too. If you have multiple cards, try paying down the one with the highest utilization rate. If you can get a good deal, you can also consider moving part of that card's balance to a new 0 percent balance transfer card. That way, you're reducing your utilization and reducing the interest you'll pay at the same time.

NEGOTIATE WITH YOUR CREDITORS

Late payments and defaults are a surefire way to send your credit score as far below the 800 mark as possible. If you've had financial trouble in the past, or see it fast approaching, there are steps you can take to undo or prevent damage to your credit.

If you foresee having trouble making payments, you can try negotiating a payment plan with your creditor. An altered payment plan could make it easier for you to pay on time. If you have late payments or debt collection items on your credit report, try asking the creditor to remove the derogatory items from your credit report, according to consumer law website Nolo. It might take some effort, but if you're successful, these steps could improve your score.

Planning for 2017

1. Make a plan. Financial experts generally recommend either paying off credit card bills in full each month or at least figuring out how to pay down the balances with the goal of eventually paying them off. That approach will also help protect your credit score, which can suffer if you carry a high balance relative to your credit limit on your credit cards. It also means that when a real emergency comes up, such as suddenly needing to buy new car tires or pay an unexpected health care bill, you can more easily cover those costs.

2. Save more. It’s a simple but vital strategy ahead of the holidays, when spending tends to go up. Saving up in advance, so you can buy gifts and make travel plans without going into debt, will make it much easier to start 2017on the right foot – without a massive credit card bill. Studies generally indicate that Americans are saving slightly more in the wake of the most recent recession. In the Bankrate survey,17 percent of respondents named “saving” as a top financial priority.

The Secret to Improving Credit

ome people are surprised to find out that their credit scores can often be improved significantly without disputing even one item on their credit reports.

When a lot of people think about "credit repair", the main thing they think about is "removing negative items." If all of your credit repair information came the mainstream media, it might seem as if that were all there were to it.

In reality, there is a lot more to a credit score than just "derogatory" items. (And there is a lot more to credit repair than just removing them.)

According to www.myfico.com, around 30% of your FICO score is made up of what we call credit utilization, or your "debt to credit ratio."

Believe it or not, it is often possible to get a significant bump in your credit score by doing nothing else but adjusting your debt to credit ratio.

There are two basic problems tied to credit utilization that could be affecting your score:

1. Too much credit available (this is rare).

2. Not enough credit available.

The more common scenario is #2, in which a person is using too much of their available credit.

For these people, they can often achieve a score increase by simply improving their debt to credit ratio.

This is normally done in one of two ways:

1. Paying off a certain (sometimes large) amount of debt in order to reduce the amount of credit you're using.

2. Opening up a new credit line to increase your amount of total available credit.

For most people, option 2 is easier to accomplish than option 1.

When you open a new credit lien, the "credit limit" of that line gets added to your total available credit.

Here's an example of how it works:

If you have one $10,000 credit card and your balance is $8,000, your debt to credit ratio is 80%. This means your credit utilization is HIGH and it could be hurting your score.

Let's say you open a new credit line in the amount of $10,000. Now you have 2 $10,000 credit lines, and your debt to credit ratio has gone from 80% to 40% overnight!

Suddenly, you're using a lot less of the credit that is available to you. You're debt to credit ratio (or credit utilization) has improved, which should result in a higher credit score.

For people with bad credit, getting approved for an extra $10,000 in credit might seem next to impossible.

The key is to look for the right kind of credit to apply for.

There are four basic kinds of credit that people with bad credit can usually get approved for:

1. Secured credit cards
2. Sub-prime merchandise cards
3. Sub-prime Visas or Mastercards
4. Store credit cards and credit lines

Of these choices, sub-prime merchandise cards and store credit cards are the best choices for improving your debt to credit ratio because they usually come with much higher credit lines than a secured credit card or sub-prime Visa or MasterCard.

And when you're trying to improve your debt to credit ratio, the size of the credit limit is important.

The other important thing to know is whether the card reports positive credit to the credit bureaus. In order to be useful, a card has to report to at least one of the three major credit bureaus. (It's best if it reports to all three, but a card that reports to at least one can still be used as a foot in the door to important pre-approved offers.)

In this article we've explained just one way that you can improve your credit score without actually disputing anything on your credit reports. There are more methods like this available, and those are covered in detail in the Credit Repair Intelligence System.

Tip of The Day!

Scores are calculated using information in your credit files that are maintained by nationwide credit reporting agencies like Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. The vast majority of consumers have errors on their credit reports that go undetected for years because they’ve never taken the time to review them.

If data in your credit reports is negative or incorrect, it’s probably dragging down your credit scores without you knowing. However, it’s easy to dispute errors and get your credit reports corrected. Start by visitingannualcreditreport.com to view or print each of your 3 free credit reports.

Saving Time Benefits

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How An Consolidation Loan Can Be Helpful

A consolidation loan will help you to group together all your debts, but it must be coupled with self repair techniques in order to really get your credit score back up where you desire it to be.