Comments on: 7 Steps to Improve Your Credit Score

By: Jim

Jim — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 13:16:31 +0000

That is 100% correct. You want the statement to close showing a balance, then you pay it off in full before the due date and pay no interest.

By: daemondust

daemondust — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 13:04:19 +0000

I think the reason they say paying off credit cards before the statement closes is that it shows as still being used, but the balance owed on it is $0. If I charge $1000 a month on a credit card, wait for the bill, and pay it all off, I still have a statement balance of $1000 that gets passed to the credit bureaus. It looks exactly the same as carrying a $1000 balance and only paying the interest.

By: Dan

Dan — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 05:31:58 +0000

daemondust is correct it talking about getting older. One of the items used to make the FICO score is the length of time of the longest open account. Unless you have a business attached to your personal credit, it is almost impossible to get above 800 until one of your accounts reaches 20yrs.

keeping zero balances is smart however a card that is not used every six months does not go into your score.

changing your payment pattern to pay by statement(closing date) instead of due date can give a few points. (I didn’t understand the explanation)

changing your payment pattern from paying once a month to making at least two payments a month (i.e. pay half your mortgage every 2 weeks) gives a few points.

cancel preapproved credit offers at the 4th credit bureau can give a few points.
optoutprescreen.com

By: daemondust

daemondust — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 23:23:06 +0000

I see all these ‘how to improve your credit score’ stories everywhere, but I’m to the point where the most negative thing on my report is that I’m too young. Not directly, of course, because ageism isn’t legal here. But because the oldest account is still pretty young even though I got it when I was 18. I have a good mix of credit types, two store cards, three major credit cards, student loans, and a car loan, so the only thing I can do to improve is keep doing what I’m doing and get older.

By: Ann-Marie

Ann-Marie — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 15:21:37 +0000

Checking your credit report regularly and disputing any inaccuracies are the most important things you can do to maintain good credit. You might be surprised how many mistakes creditors and credit bureaus make and how much these mistakes can affect your credit score.

You can dispute information on your Experian credit report online at Quizzle.com. You’ll get a free credit report and score so you can see what’s listed in your credit history. And if there’s any inaccurate information, simply click a button and fill out a short form – voila! The credit bureau then has 30 days to “investigate” your dispute, at which point is must correct the mistake or leave it be if the information is in fact accurate.

By: zapeta

zapeta — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 13:28:26 +0000

Thanks for mentioning Credit Karma again. I haven’t checked my score in several months but everything appears to be ok.

I’ll have to look but its probably time to get my credit report again. I try to get one of the free reports every 4 months to make sure there aren’t any unexpected changes.

By: Alan

Alan — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 23:35:32 +0000

@ Kosmo

The same exact thing happened to me. I did a student loan consolidation and was under the impression that everything was transferred. So i did my thing and paid off the consolidated balance…it didn’t help that i had a loan from ACS and AES and their envelopes look exactly alike. So I assumed that i was paying it off on time. Then one day I decide to just open the letter up just to see it…that’s when i found that a $5k loan with ACS was left out of the consolidation!!! and it was over 60 days late…I was lucky since that letter that i opened was the final letter before they send it to collections.

Now they have my email, phone, and fax numbers…they didn’t bother to use ANY other sources of communication…i was so pissed off and told them the story…aside from a “note” in my file the nasty smudge is still in my credit file

By: John

John — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 23:06:36 +0000

you’re site is very informative and I’ve learned a lot. But during this past year, the articles are starting to repeat the same stuff. It would be great if you could provide new material.

By: Eric J. Nisall

Eric J. Nisall — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 20:49:48 +0000

Actually, in some instances, you can close out an account completely without it having much of an effect on the overall credit score. In the case of American Express, specifically, with all of the credit line reductions I have heard from several people who were cut back to $500 limits. If that is the case, and the person has other trade lines with significantly higher limits (as well as zero or low balances), then closing the account will not do much harm to the utilization ratio.

Prpbably the one thing that I would reiterate to others more than any other point you made, Jim is that anyone promising to perform magic overnight is a scammer and should be avoided.

By: Jill

Jill — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 19:39:31 +0000

Should also point out that using your available credit is necessary to continue to boost your score. All zero balances all the time don’t do too much – you have to show you can take out credit AND pay it off.

By: Kosmo @ The Casual Observer

Kosmo @ The Casual Observer — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 19:14:12 +0000

I disputed one thing on my credit report, although it wasn’t technically wrong (I was completely honest about the situation).

When I moved several years ago, one of my student loan bills didn’t get sent to my new address. This particular lender didn’t have automated payments, so I got a small bill every quarter (it was a pretty small loan).

Since I was busy with getting settled into the new place, I didn’t realize that I never got the bill … until 3 months later, when I got the new bill, with a balance brought forward.

They hadn’t bothered to send any communication in the interim to let me know that my payment was late. They did, however, take the time to report it to the credit bureaus.

I was not particularly pleased with them. I paid off the entire balance and said good riddance to that organization. Erg.

/rant

By: Ellen / MoneyLounge

Ellen / MoneyLounge — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 18:52:11 +0000

It’s really important to dispute errors on your credit card. These not only influence your credit score, they can also cost you money. If there’s something on your statement that looks funny, it might be that someone has stolen your info. Or, if there is an unjustified late payment, a lot of times your company will be willing to reverse the damage. If at first you don’t succeed, ask for someone higher up.