Building excellent credit can take a lot of wo🎀rk and a lot of time. Sometimes, though, you might want to see results ASAP—for example, if you’re planning to apply for a mortgage in the near future.

Fortunately, there are clear-cut methods for 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:improving your credit, like reducing your utilization or askin🎐g a family member with excellent credit to add you to their credit card account. With a solid understanding of the factors that affect your credit score and these helpful tips at your disposal, it can be easier to work toward exceptional credit.

1. Reduce Your Credit Utilization

Cutting your 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:credit utilization ratio is a credit improvement method with a quick impact. Utilization generally plays a huge role in your credit score—it’s part of the “amounts owed” factor that makes up 30% of a FICO score.

If you’re using a significant portion of your available revolving credit, such as by carrying a large credit card balance, it’s worth trying to pay off some or all of it. If you can pay down your balance and reduce your utilization, your credit score may improve as soon as your balances are next reported to the 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:credit bureaus, which typically happens monthly.

Another way to reduce your utilization is to request a credit limit increase. Sꦜome credit card issuers may also offer increases automatically. If you plan to ask for a higher limit,♚ it’ll help if any accounts you have open with that lender, as well as your financial health at large, are in good shape.

2🍬. Become an Authorized User on Someone Else’s Credi♎t Card

Becoming an authorized user on another person’s well-managed credit card is perhaps the closest you’ll get to a “quick and easy” way to 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:boost your credit score. Once you’re added to someone else’s credit card account, the card will be added to your 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:credit reports, and its payment history, utilization, and other traits will✅ impact your score (in some cases, the full p𓄧ayment history may not be added).

This can be a great way to flesh out a 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:thin or nonexistent credit file. The tough part here is that it requires a fair bit of mutual trust between you and the cardholder, because any negative activity on the account impacts both of you.

3. Check Your Credit Reportsඣ for Incorrect Negative Information

澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:Monitoring your credit reports is crucial regardless of whether your score needs a boost. If you find an issue, such as an unauthorized account that was opened because of identity theft, disputing the informatiꦍon and ensuring it’s removed from🐠 your reports can help keep your score in good shape.

Other common credit report errors include:

• Inaccurate identifying information, such as a phone number or address
• Incorrectly reported late payments or delinquent accounts
• Incorrect balances or credit limits

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has a handy to help you dispute incorrect information with the credit bureaus.

4. Never Miss a Payment

Building a consistent payment history isn’t the fastest way to build great credit, but it’s arguably the most important. Scoring formulas generally consider payment history a top-ranking factor; it makes up 35% of a FICO score.

The longer and more reliably you pay on time, the easier it’ll be to increase your credit score, provided you manage your accounts wisely. On the other hand, missing even one payment can damage your credit for up to seven years if it’s not paid within 30 days, although the negative effects of late payments decrease over time.

5. Add Other Payments to Your Credit Reports 

Credit reports traditionally focus on items like credit cards and lines of credit, and don’t typically include other payments such as utility bills or monthly rent. But certain services, like Experian Boost, let you add these payments to a credit report—which means they can contribute to your credit score.

However, keep in mind that while these services might boost the credit score you see, lenders might use different scoring formulas or credit bureඣaus that don’t include these extra payments. For example, if a lender checks your credit with Equifax, they won’t see any payments recorded by Experian Boost. 

6. Keep Your Old Accounts Open

You’ve likely heard the adage “slow and steady wins the race.” It’s a phrase that applies to several aspects of your credit score, including the length of♓ y꧅our credit history.

Most credit scores consider the average age of your credit accounts, as well as the individual age of each account. The older your accounts, the better. So even if you’re not using certain credit cards, keeping them open should benefit your long-term credit health. At the same time, 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:opening a new account will cause your average age of accounts to drop, possibly hurting your credit. However, th🌃is reduction in age might be offset by the addition to your available credit, which should improve your credit utilization r༺atio.

The Bottom Line

Though there are ways to bolster your credit score within a relatively brief timeframe, there’s really no magic, one-size-fits-all solution. The better you understand the factors that go into determining 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:your credit score, the more deftly you’ll be able to use credit while kee༺ping your score 𓃲high.