Life can be challenging when you have a bad credit score. It’s harder to get approved for loans, and it can be difficult when you need to make big purchases. Buying a car, a house or even furniture can be easier if you can get it on credit and pay it off over time, but this is only possible with a decent credit score. If your credit is poor, you may think that there isn’t much you can do to fix it, especially not in a short period like three months. This is not true, however. There are several things you can do to help improve your credit in a short time.
Know where you’re starting and come up with a strategy
It’s impossible to fix your credit if you don’t know what your credit score is currently. It’s also hard to keep track of your credit if you don’t monitor it regularly. Fortunately, there are several credit monitoring services that will not only help you to discover what your credit score is currently, but they will also provide you with ideas to help you come up with a strategy for fixing it. You may have to come up with a slightly different strategy than the next person.
Have incorrect or old negative items removed
In many cases, your credit report will have negative items that are either older than seven years or incorrect, and you’ll need to have these items removed. Sometimes the old items will automatically be removed but not always. You’ll have to submit requests to the different credit bureaus in writing to get these items removed, but if you do, it can be well worth the time and effort that it takes as this can raise your score drastically.
Pay off your debt
If you have a lot of outstanding debt, you’ll want to get it paid off. You may need to call a debt consolidation company to help you with this, or you may want to talk directly to your creditors to see if you can negotiate lower payments. Often, creditors will be reasonable, and they will work with you. They understand that sometimes life happens and for whatever reason, you were unable to pay them at the time. They will appreciate any effort you are making now.
Use new credit responsibly
Opening a new credit card is a great idea when you are repairing your credit. You may have to get a secured credit card if you don’t qualify for an unsecured card. You want to keep your overall credit utilization under 30 percent, and you want to make on-time payments every month. It’s better to have a credit card that you use responsibly than to not have any credit cards at all.
Repairing your credit in a short amount of time can be done. Fortunately, there are also many websites and services like Credit Sesame that can help you to stay on track of your credit score and also help you find ways to improve it.