The Ultimate Guide to Credit Cards
Thursday, March 28, 2024

How We Improved Our Credit Score

Improved Credit Score
Erika Blaska

Written by: Erika Blaska

Erika Blaska
Erika Blaska

Edited by: Lillian Guevara-Castro

Lillian Guevara-Castro
Lillian Guevara-Castro

Lillian Guevara-Castro brings more than 30 years of editing and journalism experience to the CardRates team. She has written and edited for major news organizations, including The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and the New York Times, and she previously served as an adjunct journalism instructor at the University of Florida. Today, Lillian edits all CardRates content for clarity, accuracy, and reader engagement.

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I am a credit agency’s dream — I have never made a late payment, I always pay my bills early, and I have ample savings.

My husband, on the other hand, did not take his credit as seriously as I did. He missed a couple of payments, only paid the minimum amount due and even paid an annual fee for a credit card.

These things did not sit well with me — we needed to initiate “Operation: Improve Your Credit Score.”

I was determined to help my husband raise his credit score so that when it was time for us to make a big purchase, such as buying a car or even a house, we would be offered the most competitive rates available.

Here are the steps we took to help raise my husband’s credit score:

1. Pay bills on time

We started paying every bill on time by setting up automatic payments. This made sure we never missed a bill.

2. Pay off debt

One of the items that contributes to your credit score is your debt to credit ratio.

This means if you have high debt and only a little bit of credit, you have a high debt to credit ratio. You can either pay down your debt or raise your credit. We chose to do both.

3. Increase the line of credit

After working to pay off his credit card debt, we then chose to increase my husband’s line of credit. This was as easy as calling the credit card companies and asking for an increase.

You could also open a new credit card to increase your overall credit limit.

4. Close annual fee cards

While most agencies advise against closing a credit card, it is also important to stay smart.

There is no reason to pay for an annual fee on a credit card when you can use a free credit card to build your credit. We immediately closed the credit card with an annual fee and opened up one without a fee.

5. Check your credit report

It is important to check your credit report to make sure there are no erroneous charges. You are entitled to a free copy of your credit report every year, through annualcreditreport.com.

6. Give it time

You will need a few years to see your credit score improve. So give it time.

By implementing these techniques over the last three years, we were able to raise my husband’s credit score from the high 600s to the mid-700s, which puts him in the good to great credit rating.

 Photo: realestateblog.aspiron.net.au

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