Home » Properties » How to Improve Your Credit Score

How to Improve Your Credit Score

by | Jan 23, 2018

A bad credit score can linger and haunt you for years, adding difficulty to various everyday activities, including moving into an apartment. Don’t let a low score keep you down! If your credit score is suffering, here are a few tips and tricks to bring it back up in no time.


Get a Credit Report

pexels-photo-95916

PC: www.pexels.com

Some people are unaware what their credit score is, how it’s determined, and why it could be so low. However, there may be errors in your credit report that could falsely affect your score. The best thing to do is to obtain a credit report, which will include all the data and assets used to create your score.

Carefully check this report for errors, which you can then raise with the credit bureau to dispute and solve. To begin, use a website such as creditkarma.com to check your score! (Don’t worry, using this site will not lower your credit score.)


Set Up Automatic Payments

pexels-photo

PC: www.pexels.com

With everything going on in our lives, many of us (especially us New Yorkers) are much too busy to remember every single payment we have due. However, being consistently late on payments is a sure way to lower your credit score.

Luckily for us, many credit card and utility companies offer the option to set up automatic payments or payment reminders. If you know you have a lot on your plate, this might be a solid option for you.


Open a Credit Card

pexels-photo-164571

PC: www.pexels.com

This one might sound a little counter-productive, but opening a credit card is a great way to build your credit score, as long as you’re responsible and disciplined with your spending. In other words, make sure to never max out the card, keep a low balance, and always make your payments on time.

A good trick is to set the credit card aside for one thing, such as a phone bill or groceries. By keeping the card limited to one manageable payment, you will never run it up and find yourself unable to pay it all off. One of the easiest ways to stay on top of what you’re spending is by using a budgeting app, such as Mint or You Need a Budget.


Pay Everything Off Twice a Month

pexels-photo-585292

PC: www.pexels.com

Even if you’re paying off your entire credit card bill at the end of every month, you might still be damaging your credit score. Creditors report a credit card’s balance once a month, and if they report it when your card is maxed out, your score will take a hit.

The easiest way to solve this is to break up your payments into chunks that will be fulfilled at least twice a month. That way, your balance will never be able to build up and your score will stay intact!


Increase the Credit Limit On Your Card

pexels-photo-259200

PC: www.pexels.com

If you know that you’ll constantly push your credit card to the limit every month, it might be a good idea to try and increase the credit limit. This way, if you use all the credit on your card, it won’t appear as maxed out to creditors, but only partially used.

With this strategy, it’s essential that you’re extremely disciplined. Just because more money is available for you to use doesn’t mean that you should dip into it! Stick to spending the same amount as you normally do, so you can always pay it off immediately.

By following these steps, you’ll be on your way to signing your next lease with ease!

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes and is not legal or tax advice. Triplemint does not provide legal, tax, or insurance advice.


Ready to make a move?
Let’s get started.

Explore Listings