There are some things that they don’t teach us in school, which really impact on how we deal with stuff as adults. Credit ratings is definitely one of these things. We aren’t taught how they affect us, what we can do with them, how to improve our score or even what they are – it’s all left for us to discover later on in life. So just how do we get about improving our credit rating, and is it easy?

Build Up A History

Building up your score is easy in the sense that it takes few steps, but hard in that it’s not instantaneous – which, in this day and age, we have come to expect. You will need to do things like take out credit cards, loans, finance deals … all of the things that we are warned away from when trying to save money and keep on the straight and narrow financially, but equally things that are needed when trying to prove that we’re actually going to be good at paying money back that’s owed. If you’re looking for short term loans New Horizons and other such companies will be able to help you to build up the history you need. It’s a bit of a catch 22 situation, but it’s fine in principle as long as you don’t go over what you can afford to pay back.

Go Over Minimum Payment

If you have taken out a credit card or loan and have a minimum payment set for you to pay back each month, try and go over it. This will show that you are serious about paying back your debt in a timely manner. It also shows that you’re good at prioritising what needs to be paid off, and that you are saving more money to be able to do this. Credit companies hold this in high regard.

Shut Down What You Don’t Use

If you have store cards, credit cards, even bank accounts that you don’t use – shut them down. The more accounts that you have open, the more likely it is that this will affect your credit rating. It shows that you are more willing to get finance to tide you over for almost anything, especially with the store cards. Although they seem like a good idea at the time, if they’re dormant and you haven’t used them in ages, just get rid. They’re not doing you any favours.

Don’t Be Late

Missing your payment dates can spell disaster for your finances. Not only will it affect your credit rating as it is showing that you can’t stick to the terms and conditions of your agreement, but there is usually a fee that you will have to pay as a fine for missing the dates. Miss too many of these payments and you may end up either having to stump up what you owe in full or see the fines getting bigger. Keep the dates in your diary and make sure that you have enough money to cover them.

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