IMPROVING YOUR CREDIT SCORE

The new year of 2012 is now only hours away. It is a season when lots of people think about making changes to their life-- losing weight, dropping back habits, and the like. If you are planning on renting a new home or buying a new home, you might consider you take action in the new year to improve your credit score.

If you want to buy a new home in 2012 and will finance your purchase, your credit score should be a great concern for you. Lenders have much stricter lending requirements than they did a few years ago, and the foundation of getting a loan is your credit score. The credit score helps lenders have a reliable way of gauging your credit worthiness by looking at your debt, payment history, etc. If you are planning on renting a new place in 2012, you should also be concerned about your credit score. Many landlords carefully review applicants for rentals. I certainly do. One of the things I review is their credit score. I certainly am much more likely to want a tenant for a property if they have a good credit score than a poor credit score.

Here are a few things you can do to improve your credit score:

1. CHECK YOUR CREDIT SCORE FOR ACCURACY

You can get a free copy of your credit report each year. Simple google via the internet "free credit report" and find out how to do it. Once you get your free credit report, review it carefully. It will tell you how to dispute and correct your credit information.

2. PAY DOWN OR PAY OFF YOUR CREDIT CARDS

Starting with the smallest credit card debt you have, pay off your credit cards. Once you have the smallest credit card paid off, use the money you were using to pay off the second highest credit card debt you have. High balances on credit cards is a major impairment on your credit score. Consider selling surplus items using craigslist, a yard sale, Ebay, etc. and using the money you make to pay down your debt.

3. PAY YOUR BILLS ON TIME

Another thing you can do to improve your credit score is to pay your debts in a timely fashion. One thing that helps me do this is using bill pay offered through my bank. When I receive a bill, I go ahead and using the bill pay service schedule for the bill to be paid before the due date. You can also use your bank's bill pay service to schedule re-occurring bills (e.g. mortages, rent, auto payment, etc.)

Good luck in your efforts to improve your credit score. Keep me posted on how it goes.

Know the goodness of this day.-- Randy Wall