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Helpful Steps to Take When Building Up Your Credit

by Marie Caldwell

In terms of your finances, one of the most important things to consider is your credit. When trying to build up your credit, these steps are important to take.

Check Credit Score

Before doing anything, you are going to need to check your credit score to see if it's bad or good. You can do this online, and a lot of credit companies can do this for free. All you need to do is type in some personal information like annual salary, age, address and types of credit cards owned. After typing this information into the site, a number will show up.

Good credit scores usually range around 720. If your number is below this, you might need to take steps to build up your credit. That way, you can get approved for things like a mortgage or a loan for a car.

Create a Budget

After finding out what your credit score is, you should try creating a budget. That way, you don't end up paying for things you don't really need with your credit cards. Doing this could potentially cause you to max out your cards, which could ruin your credit.

Start by writing down everything that is an essential, such as rent, gas, daily living expenses and bills. Try to eliminate unneeded costs, such as going to restaurants or leisure activities like going to the movie. In order to tangibly see what your budget is every week, you can use sticky notes and place them somewhere you are going to look every day. You may even want to set reminders in your phone, so you are constantly aware of your budget. 

Seek Help from a Credit Counselor

If you don't know what steps to take to build up your credit, you can always get professional help from a credit counselor. These counselors are certified, so you can rest assured you receive solid financial advice that is going to help better your credit and life overall.

Your counselor can look up your score, and see what your spending habits are like. Then, they can create a budget plan for you to stick to. Some types of debts these counselors can help you with include unsecured personal loans, gas cards, cards from retail stores and medical bills. Credit counselling can also help stop creditors from calling and harassing you, giving you a peace of mind until you can figure out what to do about your credit.

Having good credit is important for a lot of reasons, such as buying a car or a home. Building up your credit doesn't have to be that difficult when you take the steps above. 

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