How can I affordably and successfully correct and improve my credit score/rating?

I would like to purchase a home, get a car... just simple necessities and luxuries in life. Besides having an outstanding credit score will give me peace of mind.

How can I affordably and successfully correct and improve my credit score/rating?
Have you seen your credit reports recently? Once a year you can go to annualcreditreport.com and get copies. Don't go to freecreditreport.com because it's not really free.





Go from there, see if there are collections, etc that you can pay off either outright or through payment plans. In future purchases, make sure payments are made on time. "Slow pays" can hurt your credit too. Also, if you don't really need credit don't let someone pull your credit report. Something that I found out (that really urks me) is that your credit score goes down as you get more "inquiries" into your credit.





Hope this helps :)
Reply:I understand you want to have the luxuries of life. I am a finance professional and my advise to you is. In order to have credit you need to be a slave of debt. Which means that if you have debt you will not be able to have the luxuries you want.





I suggest you clean your credit when and only when you have the money to buy a house. Even then, there are mortgage lenders that will do an underwriting that does not need a credit score but they look at the whole person their debt and their net worth.





To buy a car I suggest you put in a savings account $500 a month until you get the money for the car you are planing to purchase. Anyway, you would pay this including interests to a bank for an asset that looses value as soon as you take it off the lot. Not very smart.





For the rest, Cash is King. Don't get in debt.
Reply:It's work and dedication and deferment. It means paying EACH bill ontime EVERY month. It means limiting the number of credit cards you have, and not carrying balances on them. ALWAYS pay more than the minimum due on any credit card. So it's work and dedication to watch the bills and pay them in full and ontime. It's deferment, in not buying BLING, not buying what you can't afford, and not buying what your don't need.





SAVE money every month, for downpayments on car, house, and for your retirement. Fund your work 401k and get free matching money from your employer. Or contribute to an IRA. Retirement savings will grow over your long working life, and reduce your taxable income now. All of these steps will increase your net worth, increase your credit score, and increase your peace of mind.





You are obviously a thoughtful person who is planning for their future! Best Regards!
Reply:What is wrong that needs "correcting"?
Reply:pay off anything you can





pay off high interest credit cards





and if you can't fully pay creditors look to see if you have over half the balance available (say you have a 10,000 limit, they want you to have AT LEAST 5,000 available)





make sure you have no deliquent accounts or late payments





do not apply for too many things because every thing you apply for if you get it or not, they check your credit and so many checks will actually lower your score





they look to see how much credit you have been extended (if you have 1 credit card and the limit is 500 it will lower it because you haven't been extended enough, so call and ask the company to up your limit).





best wishes!
Reply:A good thing to do is open a new credit card or using the card u have - spend about 5$ or whatever a day on something with the card and then pay it off the same day (and do this every day) with internet banking or phone banking - the credit rating system does not take into account the amounts you spend and pay off - just the fact that you do - this will send your credit rate up if you do it for a month.

ginkgo