What is the best way to clean up your credit?

Question

credit cards and such!!

Answer 1

Credit card debt...

if you just have balances, determine which ones are the highest interest, and pay them off first, and eventually clear all the balances. It's generally a bad practice to have ANY balance on credit cards. Do not spend more than you make.

If you have accounts that are already in default, you want to try to get those settled. While it does look bad to have an account that was "charged off", as in you paid $1000 to settle a $2000 account, having it still out there showing an overdue balance in collection is worse. While they will often settle for less than the total, they rarely will erase the entry from your credit totally. Even if you pay in full, they usually report you as a "slow pay".

The objective is to not have anything out there that is OPEN, and start working on a good history from a date going forward. You want to be able to say "Yes, I had problems in 2004, but I've settled with everyone, and been good since then."

Hope that helps.

Answer 2

One of the most important things you can do is pay your bils on time. These little dings are one of the biggest causes for a lower credit score.

As for approach, start with the highest interest balances and pay those off first, working through your cards one at a time.

As you pay off the cards, just put them away. Don't close them. Just put them somewhere where you won't be tempted to ring em up again.

Hope that helps!