Improving Credit – What Are The Best Methods?

What are the best methods of improving credit?  Many people are asking themselves that very question, because more and more people are finding themselves with negative marks on their credit rating in today’s rough economy.  Whether it’s a few late payments here and there, or overextending themselves every month, or they’ve got charge off after charge off on their history,  the number of people with bad credit is growing at a rapid pace.  What’s the best way to solve the problem?

That depends.  If your credit problems aren’t that bad, you can probably go about solving the problem on your own.  Improving credit isn’t that tough when you’re in pretty good shape to start with, but need to raise your FICO several points to get approved for a car loan or mortgage.  If that describes you, then your best bet is to stop using your credit cards, and start paying down your balances as much as possible.  People who have used most of their available revolving credit are marked down.  So stop charging, and start reducing your unpaid balance.  That should do the trick in your case.

What about people who are in pretty bad shape.  Well, the good news is that improving credit when your FICO is terrible is far from hopeless.  In fact, you’re likely to see more dramatic improvements at first than someone starting with a fairly good score.  Unfortunately, you’ve got further to go, so it will take a while.  And, when you’re in seriously bad credit shape, you probably can’t handle the job yourself.  If that’s you, then your best bet is to get hold of some reputable credit repair resources, and follow their plan.  It will take some digging, but the sooner you start, the faster you’ll be out of the hole.