Bad credit can really hinder your life in a lot of ways, especially when it comes to getting car loans and/or mortgages. But the great thing is, with a little hard work and some commitment you may be able to actually “fix” your bad credit score over time. Interested to know how? Look below for some great tips to help you get started!
Know Your Score
Knowledge is power, and knowing what your credit score is, as well as why it is what it is, will help you plan for what you need to do to make that number slowly climb upwards until you can finally be proud to look at it again. You might even get lucky and find some discrepancies to dispute, allowing you to raise your credit score a bit without doing anything. On the other hand, even if you don’t, it’s important to still be aware of precisely what’s going on with your finances at all times.
Get Rid Of Some Debt
We get it, getting rid of debt is easier said than done. However, we also know that it’s easy to get overwhelmed and let a situation get worse by neglecting it altogether. Therefore, it’s time to be brave and sit down with someone you care about to come up with a plan to tackle your outstanding balances. Perhaps you have a lot of debt but it’s an accumulation of several little things, or maybe you have one massive expense that’s been weighing you down. Either way, paying off what you can and making routine payments on anything/everything else will make a huge difference in the long run.
Keep Your Credit Cards
By the time you pay off a credit card it can be easy to want to just cut it up so you’re never tempted by it again, but doing so may actually hurt your credit by reducing your credit and making your unpaid obligations look much worse. The best thing you can do is keep the cards even after you pay them all off, maintaining a zero balance to prove your responsibility. Pro Tip: Many people will try to hide their cards from themselves to keep from spending, but this can leave you open to theft if you lose them. If you don’t feel like you’re responsible enough to resist, try keeping your cards inaccessible but still near you or in a place you can find them at all times. For instance, it may seem strange, but many people have a lot of success literally solidifying their credit cards in a block of ice and keeping them in the back of the freezer. Whatever works!
Pay Bills In Full, On Time
It may seem like a no-brainer, but fully paying off your bills on time every single month is the best way to improve your credit score, as well as build better habits to keep you in the green once you’re there! At the bare minimum, make a monthly payment toward each debt on your credit report, this will begin to improve your credit score. All in all, fixing your credit score doesn’t have to be hard. It just takes commitment. To find both the used car and auto financing of your dreams, we encourage you to put your trust in our experts at Suburban Auto Finance, today, by clicking Apply Now to begin filling our your bad credit car loan application!