5 Ways to Build Your Credit Score

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Do you want to learn how to increase and build your credit score, but don’t know exactly where to start?  I have some realistic and practical ways for you to do it.  I am living proof you can raise your credit score.  I have done it. I have helped people do it and I want to show you through stories to help you know you can build your credit too for your next big purchase whether it is a home or a second home. 

1. Call your Credit Card Company to Increase the Limit

This seriously works and it is easy to do.  Call your credit card company and simply ask for them to increase your credit limit. 

Script: “Hi, I am a credit card holder of XXX company and I would like to increase my limit.”

Once you get the increase limit do not use it.  It will maximize your power to increase your credit score. They key thing is to not max it out – if you do there is no point in doing this easy step.  You will have now less debt to your credit limit. 

I will show you. 

Say your credit card limit is $15,000, and you have spent $10,000 on your credit card.  You call and ask for them to increase it, and they increase it to $25,000.  Wow, look at that you are using less of your credit and it better on your credit score!

The credit score thinks it is excellent to have a total available credit of $50,000+, so keep asking for an increase in credit and do not use it. 

You can continue to pay it off and make progress increasing your score.

2. Pay off your Credit Card in Full Every Month

This may seem like a simple task, but I am here to tell you.  People think it is the “norm” to not pay off your credit card each month.  People think it is the “norm” to use only their credit card.

I want to tell you a secret credit card companies do not want you to know. 

It is not the norm to not pay off your credit card.

It is normal to pay off your credit card in full every single month!

So, if you have a balance on your credit card.  You can and should pay it off! You can do it!

3. Leave your Credit Card Open

Once you pay off a credit card, do not close it. Leave that Credit Card open and put it in a draw.  Use it now and then, but not all the time.  You will be successful building your credit.

It is a silly thing, but it really does matter how many accounts you have open and how long they are open for your credit score. 

My longest account open is 11 years and it is considered good, but excellent is over 25 years! So most of us have some years to go! I would have had to open my credit card at 5 years old to have excellent in this area. 

If you’ve paid off your credit card, great! I am so proud of you – and leave it open! 

4. Use your Credit Card for One Category of Your Budget Only

This is key to a successful credit card usage if you are learning how to use a credit card properly.

I first got my credit card in college, and my father told me to only use it for gas.  I was only going from school to work to home, and wasn’t going anywhere else really.  I would fill up twice a month, so it would have maybe $80 on it every month.  This built in a great habit to use my credit card, and then pay it off every month.

As I got more comfortable using my credit card and knowing I would pay it off.  I changed the purpose for my credit card, and it became my big purchase credit card.  I only used it for big purchases that were planned in my budget at the beginning of the month. 

I would buy flights with my credit card that would cost around $350, but I had already had the money accounted for and planned for this big purchase.  Paying it off in full each month. Plus I only traveled two or three times a year at this point. 

Using your credit card for only one category in your budget works, and it has worked for me and many other clients I have worked with, which brings me to the next point. 

5. Get a Budget Coach 

Hire yourself a budget coach.  These are great investment!

I am thankful for my budget coach who helped me when I first started my journey.  I mean no one teaches you all you need to know about budgeting. 

• How to be successful in a budget. 
• How to follow up on a budget and make adjustments.
• How to plan for big purchases. 
• How to feel good about your money. 
• How to increase your credit score. 
• How to reduce your spending in an area and hold you accountable. 
• How to make a good relationship with money instead of saying it will always be this way. 

I will be the first one to tell you from experience.  Hiring a budget coach is the best thing that ever happened to me, my husband, my family, and many other clients and their families who have worked with me as their budget coach. 

I have helped clients increase their credit score by working with them in both my 1:1 Budget Coaching Session and my Back to Basic Course. 

Here is a REAL testimonial for you:

Hope you have learned a little more about how to increase your credit score with practical ways.  These have helped me and many other people, so cheers to learning and improving your life!  You are on your way to improve your financial story!

Like if you want to improve your credit score.

Like if you have a credit card. 

Share if you know someone who could use this. 

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