Your credit is far more than a number. It is a three-digit rating that is supposed to measure your financial trustworthiness. A good credit score should get you the best rates on the loan you may apply for. It should also help you to get a job and be able to get overdraft protection. Damage to your score can take months or even years to repair, so the earlier you can do something about it, the better. Here are five things to look out for when you start or continue repairing credit.
1. Start somewhere.
If you want to start saving money, improve your credit scores, or both, you need to start somewhere. Never procrastinate. You might not have the cash right away to make a large purchase (or to take advantage of a monthly financing opportunity). But if you take out a large loan and pay it off in full, without financing any other loans, your credit score will quickly improve. Even just starting a saving a little bit of money every month can help. Consider putting a little money into your savings account. This is one of those investments that can pay you back many times over.
2. Keep your checking account balanced.
When you apply for a new credit card or buy a new car, you need to pay off your old debt first. If you don’t, and this is what often happens when you don’t have the monthly funds to make a large purchase, the new purchase won’t happen either. Pay off as many of your debts as you can, and then keep paying on whichever one you have finished patching up first, and then do the same with the next one. By the time you get to your last debts, you will have a number of smaller, less significant debts you can pay off easily and regularly, if you only had enough money to do so.
3. Keep your savings accessible.
As an example, you want to have X amount of money in savings every month, but you didn’t know how to access it. So you set it up as an online transaction only. Then it happens, you’ll just have to transfer the funds in your checking account directly to your savings account. Try not to get stuck with a low interest that you cannot get to in an emergency, or a savings account you use for a single transaction only. Money market accounts at your local bank are also a good way to save funds. But if you need to get quick access to those funds, a high interest savings account is your best bet. Even though you will not get as much from interest as from a high interest savings account, you will end up with little to no time invested either; both of which would rather be spent doing something else or saved for later.
4. Know your limitations.
If you have too much money in your checking account and savings account, it won’t matter how little you are saving on things like real estate investments, or stocks, or even in entertainment, vacation planning, or whatever. It will not matter if you know how balance YOUR accounts, as long as you have a surplus available for you to deal with something you need.
5. Make a budget and stick to it.
This really goes along with planning your money. If you are over your head in debt or are saving way too little, you will want to adjust your budget accordingly. The extra money you save can come from cutting back on occasional expenditures or increasing your income through a job change, etc. If you simply have too many debts and no relief from paying them off, your budget will need to be renegotiated. (However, if you aren’t in serious financial trouble, you should focus more on making sure your income exceeds your expenses.)
Ever heard the saying that you are never too old to start? Well, it also goes for your credit score! You may not care much about that part, but the lesson is never, ever ignore the problem while it’s going on! Be proactive about it the best way you can, and it will get better, eventually.
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