The importance of having a good credit score cannot be stressed enough in this day and age. For starters, your credit score bears the greatest factor in the decision banks and other lending institutions make to extend credit. The truth is that being able to borrow money is extremely essential in the world we live in and while it’s somewhat unfortunate, banks have the ability to make life-altering decisions based simply on a number. There are also further detrimental consequences of having poor credit. Some of them include higher costs for health insurance and auto insurance and higher interest rates for financing the purchase of a car and a home. It’s almost as if having a poor credit score means you have to pay a lot more to live! Fortunately, there is a bright a side to all of this as there are ways for you to fix your credit and avoid such adverse effects.

Understanding Your Score

Before you can learn how to improve credit, it’s important that you understand how your credit score is actually calculated. Let’s start with where a credit score comes from; the figure is basically generated from your financial track record. Financial institutions such as banks make their judgments on how well you manage your credit. Consequently, their judgments add up to create your credit score. If you are able to manage your credit score responsibly, the way most creditors expect you to, then you will retain a high credit score. On the other hand, if you are incapable of controlling your credit and have credit debt, your score will most likely be low.Lending institutions need to evaluate the potential risks involved when lending you money, which is the main reason everyone is assigned an individual score based on their own situation. The way it typically works is that if you have poor credit, lenders are more inclined to charge you higher interest rates which they justify with the higher risks involved with lending you the funds. For this particular reason, it’s important for you to know how to improve your score if you are someone who suffers from poor credit. Credit score ratings generally range from 300 to 850, which makes the average 600. A credit score of 575-650 typically constitutes as a good score, while one in the lower 500’s translates into poor credit.

Improving Your Credit Score

Poor credit is not the end of the world and it certainly doesn’t have to last forever. There are ways of improving credit; you just need to know how to go about it. The following are some helpful credit repair tips to fix your credit score:

Correct errors on your report Credit counseling Pay your bills on time Keep your balances low Don’t open new credit cards Debt consolidation

You can access a free credit report online to see for yourself exactly where you stand. The important thing for you to do is to review the report in its entirety and ensure it’s absolutely accurate. If you do find any inconsistencies on the report, you need to contact the credit reporting company immediately and have them fixed. You can also get helpful advice on improving credit by consulting with experts in the field. Credit counseling companies are a great resource to turn to for credit debt help, budget management and financial planning.Another way to fix your credit score is to pay your bills on time, which might be difficult task at times. However, if you create a budget for yourself and stick to it, you will be better able to pay what you owe each month without accumulating a mountain of unwanted debt. You can also make the effort to keep the balances on all of your open accounts as minimal as possible because as tempting as it may be to max out your five thousand dollar (limit) credit card, you need to avoid doing so at all costs.When you have poor credit, the last thing you should do is open any new credit cards. What you should do instead, is pay off your existing cards in a timely manner to avoid accruing further debt to your name. A final option for fixing credit is debt consolidation, which allows you to combine all of your debt into one single loan. Because monthly installments are made more affordable through a debt consolidation loan, you are able to consistently pay off your loan, which in time will restore your credit score and bring it back to normal.