How to build up good credit?

Question

My credit score is only 608 and I was bad with paying my bills on time a few years back. Now that I am older and trying to get myself straight I was wondering how to build my credit? I have a Capital One credit card but they are the only ones that will take me. Please Help!

Answer 1

I have some good news and bad news. I'll start with the bad news first. While you're building credit with your capital one card, the problem is that your credit line is not reported, only the highest reported balance during that time. So let's say that your limit is $500, and you use $350, guess what? It's going to show $350, which can throw your score in flux. 30% of your score counts on what you truly owe vs. your available credit. With it not reporting as it should, it's going to have an effect on your score. I know after I've said this that you want to cancel the card, but you've already opened up the card, so in essence you're stuck with it. Closing it now, will only tank your score even more.

But remember I said that I have some good news? Well I just saved a bunch of money by switiching to GEICO! j/k No all jokes aside, I have a couple of tips that can help you get your score back to respectability.

1. Become an A.U.- If you have a close friend or family member with excellent credit, ask them to add you to one of their credit cards in excellent standing as an authorized user. The ideal account should be opened for 3-5 years, with a high limit, a balance of 30% or less of the available credit, with a perfect payment history, once added, the activity from the account should reflect on your report, giving you an instant boost. I posted a link that explains it more detail.

2. Get a secured card- While these are the easiest cards to get, they also require $, but don't worry you'll get it back usually after a year of paying on time and keeping the balance low. Think of this as a way to build credit with a savings account becuase the deposit, which is usually tied to a savings account determines your credit line. Remember that you'll get this back, if you pay on time and this can also be a way to discipline yourself to save money because it forces you not to touch it for at least a year. If you can add to the deposit periodically, it will boost your credit line, which will help your debt to available credit ratio. (I posted the link to where you can apply for an Orchard Bank secured card)

I hope my answer helps you out

Good Luck!

Answer 2

Just use you Cap-1 card for every day purchases like food and gas, keep your balance below 30% of your limit every month and pay before the due date. This will avoide interest charges and establish a good pay history.

After you get another card do the same thing with it but do not close your Cap-1 account. After about 12-18 months your score should improve a lot.

Good credit takes a long time to establish and only a couple of months to trash.

Answer 3

too much credit is no good so dont think that by having alot of credit cards and store cards your score will increase, as a matter of fact it will decrease so stick with the cards you have already. make payments on time every month...one late payment will decrease your score dramatically. keep bal 25-30% of card limit. basically the only thing that will improve your credit is history and the way to gain history is by paying every month on time. just make small purchases every month and pay it the same month. what i normally do is pay the bal off before the company reports to the credit bureau so it shows that i purchased and paid but at the time my bal will be zero. reason being is because a few months ago i made a purchase and had a bal when the company reported to the bureaus and my score decreased so i might as well be safe and pay it off before its reported to avoid my score decreasing. Good Luck.

Answer 4

Pay your bills on time
Pay off your capital one credit card but do not close it
See i you can get a card that requires a deposit, again keep the balance low

Answer 5

I started off on Captial One and now my credit score is a 650 and when i first signed up i didn't pay them on time and they didn't boost my account up to 1,000 but they sent me blank checks when i finished paying the $500 dollar credit limit. So far they have been good just don't sign up for the payment protection plan. interest will eat you up

Answer 6

Close store cards. They will take points off the credit score
Do not close your current credit card
Pay more than the minimum balance every month.
Live within your means
Save money
Pay off car notes, student loans, furniture loans etc. Paid off loans will increased your credut score.
Do not apply for any more loans or credit cards. If they deny you, it will take points off your credit score.

Good luck

Answer 7

pay capital One bill on time and don't use all the money, use like 50% or less.. and u will see 6 monts to a year that your score it up..

Answer 8

Maybe you can try below website to get the information you need. It's about credit score and how you can improve it articles for your second opinion.