Having a poor credit rating will cost you thousands over your financial life in the form of high interest rates and fees. It will also prevent you from getting approved for many conventional loans. A credit rating is very important, but there is one misnomer here: how do you get good credit if you have no credit to begin with? That's where these tips can help you. Just use this tried, true, proven and simple method to increase your credit score as fast as possible.
Secured Credit Cards
Add up what your monthly bills are. For example, what bills could you instead pay using a secured credit card? How about gas at the pump, your utilities, food and that sort of thing. Take out several secured credit cards and start using these to pay the bills you are already paying. According to Credit.com, these credit cards all report the major bureaus each month, so usage activity and timely payments will help you increase your credit score.
Timely Payments
Make sure that you are making timely payments to the secured credit cards and are paying them off in full each month. Every time they report to the credit agencies, they will show that you utilized a large balance and then paid it off. After about six months of showing this, your credit rating will improve because you are demonstrating that you are a responsible borrower, which is exactly what the banks and major lenders want to see.
Make it a Practice
It's all in the practice. As time goes by, you will find even more things to use your credit cards for. Before you know it, real credit card offers will arrive in the mail. And soon, you will be able to get approved for the loans that you want at interest rates that are fair and favorable. But it all starts here with you taking the first steps towards a good credit score.
Rinse and Repeat
Secured credit cards are a great start. But once you have established enough credit to get approve for unsecured cards, start using these instead. Create a history of usage and payments that is responsible and realistic. A simple way of doing this is to start paying all your bills with your credit cards and then paying off the balance in full each month. Over time, you'll be able to build a better score that helps you get approved for better loans at lower interest rates.