Did you know that credit scores update every 30 days? This could be good if you have had good financial habits over the last 30 days. It could also be bad if you didn’t have the best habits during the last month.
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Luckily, it’s possible to improve your credit score in just one month with the right habits. Keep reading to learn how it’s done.
Get Rid of That Late Payment
Did you have a recent late payment report on your credit report? Did you know that it could knock your credit score down as much as 100 points? It’s well worth the effort it takes to eliminate this record.
First, is the late payment true? If it is, you’ll have to do some negotiating with your creditor. Some creditors will give a one-time exception and waive the late payment. They call it a ‘ goodwill adjustment.’ It helps if this is your first and only occurrence with late payments.
If the creditor won’t agree to a goodwill adjustment, you may be able to convince them in other ways. If it’s a credit card, they may remove the late payment if you pay the balance in full. Others may agree to remove it if you set up automatic payments so the risk of a late payment is removed.
Get Higher Credit Limits
Your credit utilization rate has a lot to do with your credit score. The more revolving debt that you have outstanding, the lower your credit score becomes. This could happen in the span of one month. Let’s say you maxed your credit card out one month. If you didn’t pay that balance down or off before the credit card company reported it to the credit bureaus, you just increased your credit utilization rate immensely.
One way around this is to ask your credit card companies for higher credit limits. A higher credit limit means a lower credit utilization rate. This only helps if you leave your credit cards alone, though. If you get the higher credit limit, but then rack up more debt, your credit utilization rate remains high and you won’t improve your credit score.
Use Your Credit
On the other end of the spectrum, are those consumers that never use their credit cards. While it’s a good idea not to have any debt outstanding, it can hurt your credit in the long run. If your credit cards have remained unused for a long time, consider using them for small purchases. You don’t have to go buy things you wouldn’t normally buy. Just charge things that you normally buy, such as your groceries or regular household purchases. The make sure you pay the balances in full right away.
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This way you show creditors that you are a good financial risk. You can borrow money and pay it off. This will help boost your credit score in a short amount of time.
Eliminate Mistakes on Your Credit Report
It’s a good idea to check the accuracy of your credit report at least once a year. You can get a copy of your credit report free of charge annually. You can actually get a copy of a credit report from each bureau annually. In reality, this means you can look at your credit reports three times a year if you spread them out.
Once you have the credit reports, review them for accuracy. If there are mistakes reporting on the credit report, get them fixed. This takes time and effort, but it will be well worth it. If you start a formal dispute with the credit bureau, they have 30 days to respond to the dispute. If they can’t come to a resolution with it, by law they must remove the mistake from your report.
Become an Authorized User
The final step is to ask a trusted family member if you can become an authorized user on one or more of their credit cards. Make sure that the credit card company that issued the card reports authorized users to the credit bureaus before you take this step, though.
If you do become an authorized user and your family member that holds the card makes purchases and pays the balance off regularly, it can help your credit score too. The positive financial transactions will have an immediate effect on your credit report too.
Improving your credit score in 30 days is possible with diligent effort. The best way to keep your credit score high is to keep your revolving balances down, pay your bills on time, and keep a good mix of credit. If you need a little boost now and again, though, the above tricks can help.