Can You Increase Your Credit Score Quickly?

If you need to purchase a car, a house, a phone, or a new bedroom set, you are probably going to depend on credit. A high credit score can save you when it comes to how much you pay back on a loan and whether or not you can get it. Having at least decent credit is necessary to make big purchases.

Poor credit score can leave you with outrageous percentage rates. Once you’ve made the decision that something is going to be yours, you may be panicking over low credit scores. It is possible to raise your credit score in a relatively timely fashion. Here’s a few ways to do it.

How Fast Does Your Credit Reflect Changes?

One of the most important things to keep in mind is that, at best, it’s probably going to be a month if not two before you see any changes in your credit report. You can start taking steps immediately, but it could be several months to a year before your credit makes a significant jump.

How Can I Raise It Quickly?

Raising your credit score quickly works much the same as raising it over any other length of time. You just have to do more of those things faster. Start by paying off as much of your debt as you can. That’s going to make some of the biggest impact. Another option is resolving bad debts.

You can request help from companies. For example, if you failed to make payments for a few months on a card because you were out of work. Talk to the company and see if that bad debt can be removed. (Assuming you’ve demonstrated that you are paying in a timely fashion now.) You can even talk to companies that send things to collections.

If you’re high on your credit limit and your account is in good standing, request a credit line increase. This raises your credit line while lowering the amount of that line your debt takes up.Become an authorized user on someone else’s card—assuming they have good credit. You don’t even have to use the card.

Unfortunately, each thing you do may only affect your credit by a few points. For instance, suppose you have 6 credit cards with a combined $15,000 credit line and are utilizing $5,000. Paying off $1,000 worth of that debt will only raise your score three points. One the bright side, three points could be the difference between bad credit and fair.