How to Raise My Credit Score for Free
A person's credit score is very important. A good credit score enables a person to take out a loan to buy expensive items, such as a car or a house. A credit score can even affect a person's ability to be hired for a particular job. If your credit score is not good, you might be asking yourself, "How can I raise my credit score for free?" Fortunately, you can raise your credit score.
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Instructions
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Order a free copy of your credit report. You can obtain a free copy of your credit report annually, including your credit score. You can even access your credit score instantly online for free. However, you do need to enter your credit card number and then cancel a membership during the free trial period for an instant report from Experian.
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Review your credit report. Determine if anyone is using your credit illegally (identity theft). If you see anything on your credit report that does not make sense, contact Experian immediately to find out what to do. Clearing up identity theft issues will raise your credit score.
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Read over the suggestions that Experian makes on your credit report. Experian provides a section that explains which score factors are positively and negatively affecting your credit score. Follow those recommendations to raise your credit score.
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Pay your bills on time. Late fees are not only annoying and expensive: They affect your credit score, too. Once you are 30 days or more late in paying a bill, your credit score is negatively affected. However, you will gradually raise your credit score (and avoid paying late fees) simply by paying your bills on time.
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Close unused credit card accounts. Many people choose to stop using a credit card, but fail to close the account. Simply cutting up your credit card does not close your account. That account is still active and included as open on your credit report. If you have too many open credit card accounts, you will lower your credit score even with a zero balance on those accounts. You can close those accounts for free and raise your credit score.
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Refrain from requesting more credit. Too many credit inquiries on your credit report may lower your credit score. If you have no inquiries on your credit report for a two-year period, lenders see you as less likely to open new accounts and fall behind on your payments, which will raise your credit score.
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Keep a large cushion on your credit cards. Do not max out your credit cards. Instead, keep your balance low. The cushion shows that you are not likely to overextend yourself financially, which will raise your credit score.
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Tips & Warnings
Raising your credit score can take some time, but if you continue to make good credit choices, then you will be able to raise your credit score.
If you sign up for a free credit report online, be sure to cancel any memberships that you had to join during the free trial period.
References
Resources
- Photo Credit triple credit card image by Nicemonkey from Fotolia.com
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Comments
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mr330
Sep 02, 2010
It is not always a great idea to close credit card accounts. If you speak with high level industry professionals and decision makers, they will tell you that having an open revolving credit account (credit card) with a zero balance can be very good because it raises your available credit to credit utilized score. In other words, you look responsible to those who would extend you more credit because you had the ability to run up debt on that account but chose not to do so.
