You may think you're badly off but lots of others are far worse. Help them out. Every time you click on The Hungersite you send a cupful of food to hungry kids in the 3rd world. Do it a couple times a day. You'll feel good.
CREDIT INQUIRIES
If you make lots of inquiries in a short space of time lenders are going to reach the conclusion that just maybe you are needing too much credit and will not be the kind of borrower they need. And, in addition to lowering your FICO score you are not going to get the loan you desperately want.
To make matters worse the Bureaus have to keep on record a list of all inquiries on your Report for two years minimum. Which means you can't get rid of them during that time.
If you don't think you made an inquiry that they have noted you can, of course, lodge a complaint to have it removed but it should be noted that such inquiries are notoriously hard to have removed.
The golden rule here is simple -- be as sure as you can be that you will qualify for credit BEFORE you apply.
Not only will you save on not getting dunned with late fees but, more importantly, no mark will be made on your credit report so your score will remain intact.
In fact pay BEFORE the grace period if you can. On the payment due date, your credit card company sends the balance to your credit bureaus. That means if you pay after the due date, the balance doesn’t show as lower for a whole month longer. Pay before your due date and you will have a better score.
A happy day may come when you have paid off your card balance/ But don’t close the account. The longer an account is open and paid up, the better. This “seasoning”, as it is termed, of accounts helps in the calculation for your credit score.
All open at the same time improves your credit score. Installment loans for perhaps a car or furniture, revolving credit, department store cards, etc. This demonstrates that you are able to pay longer and short term debt and a “variable” monthly payment on your credit cards at the same time. Which is, of course, all to the good.
If you start getting behind on your phone bills, credit cards, car payments, etc you are sending a clear message that you might not be quite the ideal client the Credit Bureaus want. Any unpaid collection or 30+ day late on your revolving accounts comprise around 35% of your low credit score.
As a matter of fact paying collections and revolving accounts on time is one of the fastest ways to improve your credit score.
home
