EXIT Realty Foothills Advises on Credit Scores

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Jessie Eide
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EXIT Realty Foothills
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EXIT Realty Foothills Advises on Credit Scores

6 Ways to Scrub Your Credit

La Verne, CA (Grassroots Newswire) 6/2/2011 --Here we are, summer is upon us and again you are thinking about your New Year’s resolution to clean up your credit score, and it has gone out the window again. There is no reason to give up on scrubbing your credit. You still have half the year left. Investopedia provided some tips to clean up your credit and these six ways are worth mentioning.

1. Look at your Credit Report

Did you know that you can get a free report once a year from each of the three credit bureaus? The three bureaus are Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion and you can get the free report by going to annualcreditreport.com. It is important to verify each account on the report to make sure there are no errors. Be aware that unfamiliar accounts could be a sign of identify theft, more likely they are just older accounts that you have forgotten about.

2. Asses your credit card debt

It is important to add up your debt. If you don’t know how much money you owe how can you have a plan to pay it off? Make a list of all the cards that have a balance and outline how much you owe on each and what the interest rate is. After you do this you will have a clear picture of which card is costing you the most. Pay that card off first.

3. Improve your interest-rates

If you have poor credit it may be impossible to qualify for a new card, but it might be worth trying. If you can get approved, you can transfer the fees to a card with a better interest rate. Just make sure that it makes sense to do even after the transfer fees. There is always the art of negotiation. Try calling your credit card company and seeing if you can lower the rate or at least get the card’s annual fees waived. Make sure before making this call you have a negotiating tactic of it might back fire.

4. Pay off your high-interest debt first

Yes, even if that means paying the minimum on you other cards in order to pay it off. The quicker you pay off those high interest balances the more money you will have to work with each month. Then it will be much easier to clear the remaining debts.

5. Create a bill payment system

Did you know that 35% of your credit score is based on whether you pay your bills on time? The obvious resolution to that is pay your bills on time. Set up a system that alerts you of the due dates. You could also try using electronic bill pay and set it up to pay the same amount on the same day every month. By avoiding late fees you save at least $30 a month, which equal $360 for a year!

6. Start Budgeting

If you know how much money you have coming in and out on a monthly basis, it is easier to know how much you can afford to pay toward your credit card debt each month. It will also make you spend less every month because you will be holding yourself accountable.

So what we learned is, if you help yourself improve your credit score, you will most likely improve your overall financial situation.

For more information about EXIT Realty Foothills, please call 909.593.0502. EXIT Realty Foothills is located at 1339 Foothill Blvd, La Verne CA 91750.

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