Molly’s Money | Six Tips for Rebuilding Your Credit Score

If this is your first time here, Molly’s Money is a regular series I write on this blog that includes ALL things personal finance – debt management, budgeting, home buying, savings, investment, etc. I am NOT a financial advisor, but I am married to one! These are just things that I have learned over the years as I struggled with my own personal finances and ultimately, became debt free in 2012. Got a question about money that you want answered? Leave it in the comments below or email me!

Over the past three years, I have gotten email after email after email about debt, credit scores, and the like. I get so many people who ask me about how to rebuild their credit… so, I thought I would share a few tips that I, personally, did to repair my credit. When I was setting out to get out of debt, my credit score was in the tank – it was AWFUL. Now, my credit score is almost as high as it can be. It took some time, but follow some of these tips and you can get there, too! 🙂

Six Tips for Rebuilding Your Credit Score

1. Obtain a copy of your credit report – and look it over.

This is the first, and probably the most important step in the process of rebuilding your credit. SO many people avoid looking at their credit report because they’re afraid of what they’ll find. Well, unfortunately, when it comes to credit scores… ignorance is NOT bliss.

Credit reports will show you ALL of the things that are hurting your credit. You may be able to identify any potential fraud, cards that you didn’t know were open, etc. Getting a good look at your report can give you the first steps you need to take in order to start fixing any issues…

2. Pay ALL your bills ON TIME.

This is one of the easiest and quickest things you can do to start rebuilding your credit. Timeliness is a MAJOR factor in determining your credit score… so, just by paying your bills on time and NOT incurring any late fees, etc… that is a huge step in the right direction.

3. Pay down your balances… better yet, pay them off!

This should be a no brainer… but start working to pay those debts off. The less debts you owe, the better your credit score will be. Really work on paying down the balances on your cards / loans, etc. Pay the big ones off first, and work your way down. Baby steps!

4. Control your spending – stay BELOW the limits

Just because you have a credit card limit of $1,000 does NOT mean you should be maxing that credit card out. The more you owe, the more it’s going to hurt your credit score. Reign in your spending. Stick to a budget. Stay below your credit card limit. 🙂

5. Avoid any credit repair scam

There are a lot of companies out there that will claim to be able to repair your credit score… 99.99999999% of them are a total scam. I promise you… the BEST way to repair your credit is to do it the right way, not by paying someone else to do it for you.

6. Be patient

Remember, it’s going to take time to rebuild your credit. You didn’t ruin your credit overnight, so you’re not going to repair it overnight. So, have a little patience and keep focused on your goal!

What do you think? Do you have any experience with this? Any tips you would add or would like to share?