47 Ways to Raise Your Credit Score

At Another website I run I often get asked questions about credit scores, and how one can raise them. Yesterday someone emailed me with a 600 Credit Score, who was panicking because she couldn't get a mortgage. She wanted to know how she could raise her score to at least a 700 within 12-18 months. Without Going into detail I have listed 47 different ways one can raise their credit score. Many of these are obvious, yet people continue to ignore them.

1. Make Sure that each Creditor Reports to the Credit Bureaus
2. Add Your Name to Someone Else’s Good Account
3. Get Credit Advice from a Professional
4. Do Not Max Out any Credit Cards
5. Pay All your Bills on Time Every Time
6. Get Current on Past Due Accounts
7. Immediately Settle Disputed Accounts
8. Do Not Close Unused Credit Accounts
9. Do Not Make Too Many Credit Inquiries
10. Reduce Revolving Your Debts
11. Never File For Bankruptcy
12. Dispute Delinquent Credit Accounts
13. Correct Credit Report Inaccuracies
14. Get a Secured Credit Card
15. Open New Credit Accounts with High Limits
16. Close Accounts Slowly, Starting with the Newest
17. Get a Savings or Checking Account
18. Quickly Dissolve Joint Accounts after a Divorce
19. Avoid Consolidating Debts or Balance Transfers
20. Negotiate Better Terms with Creditors
21. Stop Using Credit Cards
22. Ask for a Credit Limit Increase, But Not Too Often
23. Never Take a Cash Advance
24. Occasionally Use Your Credit Cards
25. Pay Utility Bills on Time
26. Maintain at Least One Good Account
27. Something is Better than Nothing
28. Shop for Loans within a Short Period
29. Live Within Your Financial Means
30. Apply for an Auto Loan
31. Don’t Open Too Many Accounts within a Short Period
32 Add Information to Your Credit Report
33. Payoff Existing Loans
34. Pay More than the Minimum Payment
35. Ask Creditor to Delete a 30-Day Late Item
36. Enroll for Automatic Bill Paying Services
37. Resist the “In-Store Credit” Temptation
38. Pay Credit Cards Early
39. Do Not Exceed Your Credit Limit
40. Pay Balances Off in Full
41. Avoid Finance Companies
42. Re-Open Closed Accounts
43. Lower Your Overall Debt Ratio And Increase Your Assets
44. Have at Least Three Open Accounts At Any One Time
45. Do Not Apply for a “Capital One” Credit Card
46. Prioritize Your Debts
47. Always Know Your Credit Score

5 Ways to Build Back Your Wealth

So your 401k plans are at levels unimaginable, your home value is probably between 50-80% of what it was just a couple years ago, and you may have either lost your job, or are on shaky ground at work. Don't fret, I'm hear to provide you a few tips on how to rebuild some of your wealth so that next time the economy crashes, you are in a much better situation. Things seem bad now, but they will get better, and in the end you will have learned a great deal about your finances. Here are 5 ways to build your wealth back up.

1. Build your Credit Score - In times of crisis it's always good to have a nice credit line with a low interest rate in case of an unforeseen emergency. Build your credit score, by lowering your debt to credit ratio. This means you need to pay off the debt you owe, while also trying to get a credit line increase. The more credit you have available, that you do not use, the higher your score will usually be in the long run.
   
   
2. Don't watch so much TV - Did you know that for every 1 hour of television you watch per week, your expenditures increase by $200 for the year? The reason for this is that we are influenced by trends on tv. If our favorite athlete or movie star is wearing a certain piece of clothing, driving a certain car in a sitcom, we are more likely to want that object.
   
   
3. Reevaluate your Portfolio - This is a great time to re-adjust our investment holdings. If you are in the age range where you should have a 50% stock holding and 50% bond holding, it is likely that after the recent crash, things are not 50/50 any longer. This probably means you should buy more stocks. In the long run it will even out and you will likely recover your losses
   
   
4. Reevaluate your Car and Homeowners Insurance Policies - Did you know that you could save about $400 a year if you raise your deductible for homeowners insurance from $500 to $5000? That may seem like a big step, but in actuality, how often have you had to put a claim in? Insurance should be there to protect from catastrophy, not the minor problems.
   
   
5. Refinance - This is probably one of the most overlooked ways to save a bundle of money. Did you knwo that if you were to refinance your $300,000 mortgage from a 6% rate to 5% rate, you'd save over $40,000 during the life of the loan? You'd also cut your monthly payment by abotu $350 as well. $350 a month is a nice amoutn fo money you could be saving isn;t it?