The transition into adulthood is both exciting and scary. There are a lot of new responsibilities. You completed school and went out to start your career. You moved into your own residence. You have a car to maintain and groceries to purchase. You are ready to take your life to the next step. In order to do this, you want a secure future for you and your family.
Unfortunately, you’ve acquired some debt. School, cars, homes and all the expenses that coincide with them are expensive. You want to manage your debt and improve your credit so that you can better prepare for the future.
Bad credit can close some doors. You could struggle getting loans and be stuck with poor terms that end up costing you more money. You want to make sure that you reopen those doors. You can take measures to improve your credit.
- Check your credit score. You want your credit score to be above 619. Look for
- Payment history
- Credit utilization
- Types of credit
- History length
- Inquires, both hard and soft
- Budget so that you can catch up on any missed payments. Your payment history factors into your credit score. You will want to try to bring your payments up-to-date.
- Pay bills on time. As you move forward, you will want to budget so you can pay your bills on time. Late payments will ruin your history.
- Pay down your debt. Your credit utilization greatly impacts your credit score. Using a large majority of your available credit could count against you.
Rebuilding your credit is possible. Know that it is a process that could take awhile. Most negative marks take anywhere from 7 to 10 years to be removed from your report. Always look for mistakes on your credit report. The Federal Trade Commission has stated that 1 in 5 Americans will have an error on their report. You will want to report mistakes.
