Financial Tip: Improve Your Credit Score

There is no easy fix to improving your credit score. It takes time, effort, and responsibility. Unfortunately, the exact formula that credit bureaus use to calculate credit scores is a tightly kept secret. However, you can follow some general rules to improve your credit score.

According to www.myfico.com, you can improve your credit score by sticking to the following guidelines:

• Always pay bills on time.
• If you have been delinquent on payments in the past, get current and stay current. The delinquencies will fall off your report after several years of good behavior.
• If you already have plenty of credit open, don’t open any more new accounts. Too much available credit—and even applying for new credit—will reduce your score.
• Don’t close credit accounts, either. Ironically, reducing your available credit also can have a negative impact.
• Pay down revolving credit.
• It’s better to have credit cards and use them responsibly then to not have them at all. Someone with no credit cards is viewed as a higher risk.

Remember that your credit score can affect your ability to get loans, a new job, or even rent an apartment in Gainesville, Florida. In addition to keeping your loan payments current, you should also keep other payments current such as your rent, phone, utility, and insurance payments. Paying on time definitely pays off in the long run.