We’ve gone over the Five Ways to Maintain a Good Credit Score, which directly correlate with the five factors that affect your credit score. Now, we are going to equip you with 4 tips to manage your credit score, diving a bit deeper into everyday habits that can become your strongest tactics.
Tip 1: Keep track of your spending.
Whether you embraced budgeting at a young age or are just now figuring out your money flow – tracking your spending is one of the best ways you can ensure your credit score stays healthy. It’s all about finding the right tool for you, one that empowers you to take control of your budget and optimize it for the long haul. From apps that help you cancel unused subscriptions like Truebill, to apps that track and analyze your current budget and alert you of upcoming bills like Mint – there is a plethora of pocket technology to make spend tracking painless. Like to do it old school? An Excel spreadsheet can do wonders for accountability and awareness, keeping you mindful of all card swipes, bills and big purchases you take on through manual insertion.
No matter what tool you choose, keeping track of your spending not only ensures you’re not taking on too much credit but also makes sure you have a cushion for when loan payments, credit card bills and mortgage payments come around.
Tip 2: Don’t exceed your credit limit.
One thing you can do right now is check the credit limit on your credit card. From there, you can subtract what you have already spent on your card with the remainder being your available credit. This available credit is what you have left to spend before exceeding your credit limit. Although this may seem like an intangible problem, as credit cards may not be declined, even after exceeding this limit – it can have a big impact on your credit score and interest payments. Checking your credit limit frequently will help you keep a close eye on your credit spend, ensuring you don’t exceed your limit and your credit score doesn’t take a hit.
You can always increase your available credit, as well, giving you room to spend as long as your payments remain frequent. Things like keeping your employment information up to date, paying more than the monthly minimum when you can and never missing a payment can help your chances of an increased line of credit.
Tip 3: Have an emergency fund.
Life isn’t perfect, and sometimes we run into situations that only money can help solve. But you always want to make sure money doesn’t become the problem, and that these emergency expenses don’t inhibit you from being able to pay car loans, mortgages or credit card bills. Having an emergency fund can help keep you protected from falling behind on routine payments when big chunks of money are put towards events out of your control. No amount is too small, with every deposit into that fund being a step towards better control of the future – whether it’s $10 or $1000.
Tip 4: Pay what you owe.
At this point, you may be thinking “Every tip on this blog includes ‘Pay your Bills’” as one. But it’s true – paying your bills on time every time is the single most important thing you can do for a healthy credit score – allowing you to build trust with loaners and empowering you to take on more credit as you enter new stages of life. All of the tips above are to help this tip feel like a no-brainer, giving you a better grasp on your finances so that when it’s that time of the month, year or quarter – you have what you need when loaners need it. More proactive tactics would of course include things like paying more than the minimum requirement and putting down larger deposits when possible to reduce interest rates, but we understand that isn’t always an attainable goal. So if right now your goal is to meet all payments on time, that right there is the best thing you can do today, tomorrow and always.
