Thank you CreditRepair.com for sponsoring this post. CreditRepair.com’s team understands that a credit score is not just a number; it’s a lifestyle.
The first time I realized that my credit was *messed up* I was sitting in a car dealership trying to buy my lease out from my ex-husband. I’ll never forget the sales associate coming up to me with an uncomfortable look on her face, she took a deep breath in before saying “Um, unfortunately we can not lease or sell this car to you at this time, your current credit score disqualifies you. I’m sorry.”
At that moment I felt like every single person in the dealership heard her and could see the tears welling up in my eyes. I had just done the scariest thing I had ever done, leaving my ex, and all I wanted to do was move on with my life. But then I was told, I couldn’t. At least not how I wanted to, or when I wanted to. I became frantic.
How was I going to get to and from work with no car?
How were my kids going to get to school?
What if I need to take my kids to the doctor?
After speaking with my parents, ok more like sobbing to them because at this point I was a complete wreck, they stepped in and cosigned a car loan with me so that I could have a vehicle. But without their help what would I have done?
When I separated from my ex, and started the divorce process, the LAST thing I thought about was my credit score. And it wasn’t until someone else told me my credit wasn’t “good” that I even started looking into my credit and what to do to improve it.
Fast forward almost three years – over these last three years I’ve done the best I can to try and repair my credit on my own and with help from many resources like my family and CreditRepair.com. I’ve had ups and downs, sometimes I had late or missed payments and sometimes I was able to pay over the minimum or even double what was owed. And in the last three years I’ve gone from having horrible credit that was literally in the trash, to actually having a really good credit score. I’m a new home owner, have an almost “perfect” credit score and today, would be approved in a heartbeat to buy my car! So today I want to share what I did to help MYSELF improve my credit, because great days, follow good credit!
tip 1 : high to low
This is a tip my parents told me. Make a list of all your debts. Include who the debt is owed to, how much you owe, what your monthly payment is, and most importantly, what your INTEREST RATE is. Then make another list of these debts putting the debt with your highest interest rate at the top, working your way down in decreasing number order to the debt with the lowest interest rate. WATCHING OUT FOR any “zero interest rate if paid in full by 6 months” type debt – pay those FIRST because the interest rate on those types of debts are almost always astronomical if you haven’t finished paying during the interest free timeframe. I once had a store credit card that tacked on 25.99% interest after 6 months and my world got ROCKED when those payments popped up.
example :
furniture store – total owed 3000 – monthly payment, 100 – interest rate 0% (if paid in one year, 24% after that)
car loan – total owed, 10000 – monthly payment, 100 – interest rate, 6%
credit card 1 – total owed 500 – monthly payment, 50 – interest rate, 3%
credit card 2 – total owed 1200 – monthly payment 75 – interest rate, 1.5%
tip 2 : asses the negative items on your credit report
When I started this process, I wasn’t sure what a “negative item” was, and since I didn’t know, I thought y’all may not either, so to be clear – “negative items” could include late payments or collections, bankruptcies, liens and repossessions, which could hurt your credit score. Some of these negative items are legit, but others might not be, and CreditRepair.com helped me to decipher between the two. I used CreditRepair.com because they are the leading provider of credit report repair services in the US, with a team of credit professionals to educate and empower YOU to achieve the credit score you deserve. CreditRepair.com will help you challenge these inaccurate negative items on your credit history, to improve your credit report in the future.
tip 3 : use credit card points…
… to pay off your credit card! If you have credit card debt check to see if your card offers “cash rewards.” I used to have multiple credit cards and ALL of them offered a cash reward I could use towards gift cards, gifts, OR put directly towards my outstanding balance. Stop falling for the gimmicky gift cards and gifts, put that money towards paying off your credit card debt! Even if it’s only an extra $10.
tip 4 : budget!
I know this seems obvious, but seriously, do a written budget! One thing that REALLY helped my credit score go up was simply paying off outstanding debt to lower my debt to income ratio! When you budget you see exactly where you are over spending. Completely cut out extra unneeded expenses like going out to the bar or taking vacations and trips all the time. Then cut back as much as you can in other areas like only treating yourself to coffee shop coffee once a week, and making it at home the rest of the week. Or buying store brand items instead of the popular name brand ones. You’ll be surprised how much money you can reallocate to paying off outstanding debt.
tip 5 : find a good support system
If you are in a situation like I was – with trash credit – and you really are determined to repair it, you need a support system. When you tell your friends “No, I can’t go out to the bar this weekend, I’m trying to save money.” If their response is anything other than “That’s ok! I totally understand.” then they AREN’T BEING SUPPORTIVE. That’s also one thing I love about CreditRepair.com – members of CreditRepair.com are provided with so much support, like an online dashboard, a credit score tracker and analysis, creditor and bureau interactions, text and email alerts, mobile apps and credit monitoring. If you can get someone in your life to be supportive of your credit repair journey and couple it with CreditRepair.com you’ll be on a path to success!!
I hope that these tips help you achieve the credit score and report you’re aiming for! I know it can be daunting, but if someone had walked up to me that day at the car dealership and told me “Don’t worry, in 3 short years you’ll be sipping a hot cup of your favorite tea in the backyard of your waterfront home.” I NEVER would have believed them, but here I am!
Repairing your credit score is so beneficial to your present and future self, and so SO worth it! If you’re not sure where to begin with help repairing your credit I highly suggest starting with CreditRepair.com. They are trusted leaders in credit repair with over 500,000 people using their services. What is bad credit costing you? Know your credit, repair your reports and live your life! You deserve it!
