Making financial changes in your life at the beginning of the year is ideal.
Everyone should exercise, but don’t neglect your financial security and credit rating. To prevent your good intentions from failing, as many resolutions do, develop a credit strategy for the new year. If there is potential for improvement in your credit score, cross that item off the list now because improving your score will take time and work.
Check out the credit improvement plan from Credit Sesame for more instructions.
Five ways to improve credit in 2023
1. Visit AnnualCreditReport.com to obtain your credit report and Credit Sesame to obtain your credit report card.
Each customer is entitled to a free credit report every 12 months from each of the three major credit reporting companies under federal law (Equifax, Experian and TransUnion). Regularly reviewing your credit reports will help you understand where you stand and what you can do to improve. You can also look for mistakes that might be harming your score.
2. Accept the invitation to use someone else’s credit card.
You receive your own card when you are added as an authorized user, but more crucially, the history of the principal cardholder on that card is added to your credit report. Your credit score might rise if the bill is paid on time and the balance is low. Be cautious.
You should only be allowed to use an account as an authorized user if the primary account holder uses credit wisely. Accept full responsibility for all transactions you conduct on the card. The majority of credit card companies—but not all of them—report authorized users to the credit agencies, although occasionally the account is listed on the authorized user’s credit report in a different way.
3. Open a secure credit card and manage your usage.
You must deposit cash to get a secured credit card. Typically, the deposit amount is matched by the credit limit on the card. The amount you owe is not deducted from the deposit when you use the card. The bill must be paid just like you would with a regular credit card.
You might be able to get eligible for an unsecured card and receive your deposit back after using the card responsibly for six to twelve months. Limit the card’s use. The usage of your debts makes up a portion of your credit score. You owe that much in relation to the credit you have available to you. No more than 30% of your limit should be your balance.
4. Make a shop card application.
Sometimes it’s simpler to be approved for store cards. Their interest rates may be greater than those of conventional credit cards, which has the drawback of making them more expensive.
Be cautious because the store may attempt to persuade you to make purchases using the card repeatedly by providing exclusive offers, discounts, and coupons. Avoid getting into debt to achieve your credit-building objectives.
5. Request an increase in the credit limit.
As we discussed before, your utilization ratio contributes to a portion of your credit score. By raising your credit limits, you can reduce this ratio and raise your score without reducing your debt.
Be aware that the issuer will likely run a hard inquiry on your credit when you seek the increase, just like it would if you were applying for a new account. In general, hard questions temporarily lower your score by a few points.
After a year, inquiries stop damaging your credit, but they continue to appear on your credit report for another two years. Once your credit limit has been raised, refrain from using it because doing so would be counterproductive.
