CREDIT TIPS AND HACKS

Make all payments on time. One late payment can cost you up to 100 points and can affect your credit score for years to come

Ask for a credit line increase on your credit card every 6 months, but do not spend your new money. The more available credit you have, the higher your score 

Have someone with good credit add you as an authorized user on one of their high limit credit cards

Keep your credit card utilization around 30% - Example: Your credit limit is $300, do not spend more than $90 a month. Tip: You can spend as much as your limit will allow, as long as you pay your statement balance in full every month or keep the balance at 30% of your limit or below

Get a credit card and do not close it when paid off. The longer your credit history, the better your score

Credit card companies and other loan companies do not report a late payment until it is 30 days late. This means you have 29 days from the date it was due to get caught up without it affecting your score. However, they will charge you late fees so be cautious with this 

Self Lender and other credit builder/secured cards are great if you have no credit at all...but in the end what matters is your credit history with actual banks. If you read the fine print for a lot of those self lenders and self reporting accounts, they will tell you that FICO scores are usually not affected by this

Stay away from fast loans. When you pay the loan off and it closes out, your score will decrease because you lose your positive payment history. This also makes it look like you are struggling and you will be a red flag to lenders. Go for a credit card instead, which is revolving credit. Meaning it is credit you can use again and again 

Disputing through the bureaus website does not work and is a surefire way to verify your identity along with  any debts reporting on your credit report

Paying off old debts DOES NOT remove them from your credit report. Contact me instead, I will save you thousands of dollars and help get you in your dream home/car/etc!