Everyone has rough spots in life, we all have had portions of life where our credit score has been less than desired. To minimize the damage, and save yourself from thousands of dollars in high interest rates you will need to take steps to improve your credit score as quickly as possible. Here are a few steps to help you get started and to get on the road to recovery!

1) The very first thing you can do is order a copy of your credit report. One of the places that I recommend that you order from is EquiFax. One of the reasons that they are great, is that you can order your report from all 3 credit agencies, right there at one spot. You can even order your FICO score from them as well, which I also recommend, as that will give you a good starting point as to what your credit score is, as well as allow you to set a goal as to what credit score you would like to work up to.

2) Dispute anything inaccurate on your report. Dispute anything and EVERYTHING on your report that is incorrect! This can be tiresome and rather tedious, but getting inaccurate items off of your credit report is the best place to start on improving your credit. You would be surprised at how many credit reports actually have information that is in correct, and you will want to get this repaired as soon as possible. This step can also serve as a huge confidence builder on your way to good credit. You can get items removed from your report, and your credit will improve, and you won’t have to spend any money!

3) In this next step, you will want to catch up on delinquencies, and late payments. For most people, however, this step could prove to be overly burdensome, as people may not have the income to pay off everything (if you did have the income, you probably wouldn’t be here!) I would suggest working on your most recent items first, accounts that were in the past year or 2 serves as a good starting point.

4) The next step is re-establishing good credit. This step is probably BY FAR the MOST IMPORTANT step. This can also be a very difficult step, as it takes good credit to get credit. I hear all of the time from people who get frustrated with this step, and they complain that they don’t want a secured credit card. There are a few places that give credit cards to people with bad credit, but depending on your credit situation, they may ask that you put down a deposit.

Here is one of the best places that I have found: Credit Axis
Credit Axis is a site full of credit cards for people with bad credit, as well as resources for people looking to improve their credit. Check out the link above and look around and see what you can find to help you along your journey to good credit.

5) Establish new credit SLOWLY! Do not open a ton of accounts at one time, this will hurt your score not help it. Also, while you are working with your new credit card, don’t max it out, yet carry a balance on it. Say if your new limit is 300, charge 150 or so on it, pay 50 a month (pay more than the minimum) then you will have that initial 150 paid off in around 3 months, once it is back to a zero balance, charge another 150, and do the same thing. Paying more than the minimum will show that you are able to make payments, paying it down will show you are committed, and repeating that step will show that you are taking care of your credit. Before too long you will be surprised how fast your limit will be raised, and your credit will be improving!

This is the first in a series of articles for improving your credit! If you have questions that you would like answered in a future article, leave a comment on this section with your question, and I will do my best to bring you an answer!

- The Doc