Your credit card spending may not be too much of a concern while you’re young. You’ll apply for credit for whatever you want without thinking, and that’s it. However, as you get older, you’ll find that you’ll need to know your credit score and that the score itself has to be a good one for you to get what you want in life. Bad credit may prevent you from renting an apartment, obtaining a vehicle loan, purchasing a home, and more.
Poor credit can come about for a variety of different reasons. One is having too much credit, another is not making repayments on time, but there are a variety of other factors too. Luckily, even if you currently have a poor credit score and you know you need to improve it, there are some things you can do. Read on to find out what some of them are.
Secured Credit Cards
Having a poor credit score or no credit makes getting a conventional credit card very difficult, so what happens if you need to have one? The answer is to use a secured credit card in this scenario.
When applying for a secured credit card, it is almost impossible to be refused. Secured credit cards are a best way to improve your credit score as long as you make your repayments on time and ideally in full. It might sound like a strange thing to do, but if you use a secured card to pay for your next visit to Lighthouse Tattoo, or to get your car valeted, or to do your online grocery shopping and then simply pay it all off at the end of the month, your credit score will increase, and you won’t even be in debt.
Errors in Credit Reports
Your credit record could include certain debts and other information that you never incurred and that has nothing to do with you. Only way to discover this is to carefully look through your report and determine whether or not all the information included within it relates to you. If it does, then you don’t have to do anything (other than work on improving your credit). If, however, you find errors, this could be the reason for your low credit score, and you’ll need to take action.
It’s possible to go into each of the three major credit agency websites to view information about every mistake on your credit report. If you see any problems, you’ll be able to submit a report to get them fixed. In this case, the one disadvantage is that you may have to wait a few weeks or months before your credit report is corrected.
Loans
The moment may have come for you to get a loan, perhaps for a car, or to carry out renovations in your property. When your credit score is low, it may be a little depressing because you won’t be offered the loan you want – perhaps you’ll be declined altogether, or otherwise, you’ll be offered a higher interest rate or a lower amount.
If you can find a guarantor to co-sign your loan, you can improve the offers you’re given, however. Of course, you will need to be sure you really can afford the loan; otherwise, your guarantor will be liable for the repayments, but as long as this is the case, you can get the loan you want and, when you pay it back, your credit score will rise as you’ll be able to prove that you’re financially responsible.
