At Boosted Roosted, we believe that everyone deserves a strong financial future. Your credit score decides if you get accepted for loans, credit cards, and even a home. If you have a lower score than you want, do not worry—you can fix it yourself. Do not waste money on repair companies who might be able to do what you can do for free.
In this guide, we’ll walk you through the process of repairing your credit step by step.
Step 1: Get Your Credit Reports
The first step in repairing your credit is understanding whether you are eligible for a free report from every one of the three major credit reporting companies, namely Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion, every year. These reports are accessible on AnnualCreditReport.com.
Go through every report thoroughly and verify them for errors. This way you would be able to dispute the error with the credit bureau online by mail and boost the credit score by fixing mistakes in your report.
Search for the following errors:
- Accounts that aren’t yours
- Incorrect balances
- Late payments that you actually paid on time
- Any accounts that are listed more than once
Step 2: Pay Your Bills on Time
Your payment history makes up 35% of your total credit score. That means late payments can seriously hurt you. If you missed your previous payments then you can start on-time payments from now on by setting up automatic payments or reminders. If you’re in arrears on bills, phone your creditors and inquire if they’ll be flexible with you. Some will consent to modify due dates or set up a payment plan.
Step 3: Reduce Your Credit Card Balances
Try to keep usage under 30%, but the lower usage, the better. If at all possible, settle high balances as rapidly as possible. If not, see about paying them down in multiple payments a month.
Step 4: Avoid Opening Too Many New Accounts
Every time a loan is taken out or a new credit card is requested, the issuer makes a hard inquiry on the record. Get new credit only when absolutely necessary because numerous inquiries within a short timeframe would impact the credit score. In place of taking on new accounts, keep the old accounts in order.
Step 5: Don’t Close Old Credit Accounts
You might think closing old credit cards will help your score, but it can actually hurt it. Your credit history length makes up 15% of your score, so keeping older accounts open can help.
If you have an old credit card with no annual fee, keep it open, even if you don’t use it much. Just make sure to use it occasionally to keep it active.
Step 6: Negotiate with Creditors
If you have overdue debts, reach out to your creditors. Many lenders are willing to settle for less than what you owe or remove a late payment from your report if you ask.
You can also request a “pay for delete” agreement, where you agree to pay a debt in exchange for the negative mark being removed from your credit report. Not all creditors will agree, but it’s worth trying.
Fixing your credit might feel overwhelming at first, but if you stick with it, you will be able to pay your bills on time and keep your debt low. At Boosted Roosted, we believe that credit repair should be simple and accessible to everyone. So be smart about new credit and keep old accounts open when possible. Improving your credit takes time, but every step you take puts you in a better financial position. Stay consistent, and before you know it, you’ll have access to better loan options, lower interest rates, and more financial freedom. Start today—your future self will be glad you did!
