Six Proven Methods of How to Build Credit and Improve Your Credit Score
When it comes to how to build credit, it’s hard to know which ways work and which ways aren’t effective. The credit bureaus are always changing the way they formulate credit scores, and nobody really knows the exact formula that FICO uses to apply a credit score to a persons file. We do however have enough information that FICO has released that lets us put together, very accurately, proven strategies to start increasing your credit score.
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Depending on your current situation (if you’re starting with a clean slate or have had some credit related blemishes in the past) the time it will take for your credit score to increase will vary some. It’s obviously going to be much easier and quicker to build credit if there is no harmful credit marks in the past, but if there are that just means that it may take a little while longer to improve your credit score.
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The proven strategies on how to build credit:
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1. How to Build Credit Tip 1: Get a Secured Credit Card: It may be hard to get an unsecured credit card when you have bad credit or no credit, so you may need to get a secured credit card. These are great because they’ll report to all three of the credit bureaus, and if managed right (keeping the balances low and payments on time) you’re credit score will raise over time and create enough of a credit file to be able to get a more traditional unsecured credit card. There is a very slim chance of being turned down for a secured credit card because they will require you to give a deposit up front to secure your credit line. Ideally you’ll be able to convert these to an unsecured credit card after 12-18 months of a good payment history.