Surviving The Game

 

Now that you have your credit report in hand and you know what your credit score is, how do you make sense of it all?  Your credit report is a document that has all of your personal info such as address, name, birthday, etc. Credit account info such as balances and amount owed as well as bankruptcies, liens and judgments will all be found there.

As we said in the last post, creditors will look at how you pay your bills.

Do you pay on time?

How many credit cards do you own?

How much do you owe on all of your accounts?

This info gets reported to all three agencies. If you’re not paying on time, your credit score will be lower than if you pay promptly. Bottom line? If you want good credit, pay your bills on time!

Young people, do you know your credit score? Let’s face, some adults may not know it either.

Fact: Credit score can range from 300 – 850. Most people have between 600-700.  To calculate your score, you have to have had at least one account that has been opened or updated within the last six months.  Whether you are paying those cell phone bills and credit cards on time can effect your score.

To get a free copy of your credit score, you can contact:

Equifax – http://www.equifax.com/home/en_us

Trans Union – http://www.transunion.com/

Experian – http://www.experian.com/

It’s never too early to start building up and taking a serious look at your credit. Knowing is half the battle!