You probably are already aware that in today's world your credit score is everything.

If you are already suffering with a bad credit score you may be thinking “I can’t afford some fancy accountant to get my credit score raised…..I need to raise my credit score for free.”

You know that creditors and bankers approve or disapprove loans based on your credit worthiness. It is also something that will determine your credibility to certain employers or landlords.

There may be some agencies that say they can help you to raise my credit score for free….but here are some things you can do on your own immediately.

How can I raise my credit score for free? Here is what you need to do…..

Step 1 – Stop your bad credit before it gets worse. So how do you do this? You pay your previous overdue debts as soon as possible. This cuts off the bad credit reports from creditors. It will not improve the actual credit score but it will put you on the right track to repairing your credit history.

Step 2 - You must raise your credit score by opening a new savings or checking account. Treat that account with care and do everything right – no NSF or bounced checks, no ATM over-withdrawals, etc.

Step 3 - Apply for a secured credit card. This will mean that you will have a higher interest rate but it is also a good way to control your credit card spending and it will also raise or repair you bad credit score. By paying the monthly credit card bills on time you will be able to see a significant rise in your credit history report.

If you continue to follow these steps you will eventually start to see a good credit rating. However, your past credit history will contain bad credit scores and ratings. These bad listings do not expire for 5 to 7 years.

You must remember that it does take time to raise your credit rating. You must be patient and diligent to see a change. However, it is worth it.

That is why it is very important to make positive reports for your creditors. They then will pass those on to credit reporting agencies. Remember to pay your loans and credit cards on time in order to get a good credit rating. By doing so you will eventually end up with a good credit score and history.

2 Things To Do In 30min To Raise Your Credit Scores 40-100 Points

 The first important step is to gain a basic understanding of how your credit scores are determined. I am sure this will be new information for you, since this is not taught to any of us in school. In fact, when it comes to the three credit bureaus, equifax, experian, and transunion, they prefer to keep everyone in the dark on how credit scoring works.

To explain what makes up your credit score in as simple terms possible, this is how it works

35% - Payment History Your history of paying your bills (on-time, late, etc.). The largest factor of your score.

Credit Utilization 30%:  The percentage of available credit used. Keeping your account balances below 50% of the available credit limit will maximize your scores. For the purpose of this article, this is where we will find the most room to quickly increase your scores.

 History 15%:  This is how long our accounts have been established. A more established account has more value than a new one.

Credit Inquiries 15%:  Whenever you apply for credit, an inquiry is registered on your credit reports. If you get too many, it can have a negative effect.

 Type of Credit In Use 10%:  Type of accounts, and number in use. Mortgage loans are the best, and finance company accounts are the worst.

 Since we now have an understanding of how scores are calculated, now we can focus on a couple of things we can do right now to maximize our scores.

 Get an increased credit limit.  This is very simple to do, and I think you will be pleasantly suprised by the success rate if you just make a couple easy phone calls. Just pick up the phone and ask to raise your credit limit. Now you can also use my favorite strategy and say something like, "I am considering a balance transfer to another card with a higher limit and better interest rate, but thought I would see first if you would increase my limit and possibly lower my interest before I cancel this card.". I have found this to be successfull nearly all the time, both personally as well as with my clients.

 As an example scenario, let's pretend that you have a credit card with a $5,000 limit, and a balance of $4,000 (80% utilized). You make a 10 minute call and get you limit increased to $6,500 which means now you are only 62% utilized. Much better, and immediately, your scores increase. Now we can do even better, which brings us to the next technique.

 Lower Your Balances! Continuing from the example above, you are now 62% utilized on your credit card. This means you still have some room to further maximize your scores. If you pay $750 on this credit card, you will bring the balance down to 50% of the new credit limit ($3,250 balance on $6,500 credit limit). Now, you might be saying that you don't have $750 to pay down your credit card. That's ok, you could stop here, you have already increased your scores, and you can get the limit raised for all your credit card accounts. However, if you are trying to buy a home, or even a car, you can potentially save thousands in interest on your new loan and get a lower monthly payment, just by paying a little down on your current accounts. When that results in higher credit scores, you may qualify for much better loan terms.

 Both these techniques are fast and easy, and have been proven to work time an time again. I have used them personally, as well as assisted clients with them. I am confident they will also work for you.

 These simple tactics are more appropriate for someone with a good payment history on established credit card accounts. It is recommended that you have at least 3 open credit card accounts to maximize your scores. One of these could be  a department store account. If you don't have enough credit, or have a negative credit history, perhaps more aggressive credit repair or credit building strategies would be more appropriate for you.

 Jon Ochs has over 12 years of experience in the credit and debt field and is the founder/CEO of (http://www.ncacreditrepair.com) NCA Credit Repair. You can learn more about establishing new good credit at (http://www.ncacreditrepair.com/credit-cards-all.html) Credit Learning Center.

Can Credit Card Debt Calculators Really Make Your Life Easier?

What is the first thing that comes to your mind when you hear the word "calculator"? I bet in the back of your mind comes up a picture of your old calculator that you used back when you were still in school. Am I right? A credit card debt calculator is different than your regular calculator.

In fact, it is much more complicated than your high school calculator. In this article I'm going to talk about the features and benefits of a credit card debt calculator.

Usually people use credit card debt calculators in order to help themselves get out of debt. When you have several different credit cards, a credit card debt calculator is especially useful to help you compute how much you actually owe your credit card companies. This allows you to know how much time it will take for you to pay off all your debts.

With a credit card debt calculator, you can also see if a debt consolidation is suitable for your financial condition or not.

Typically, the following financial information can be entered into a credit card debt calculator:

 - your interest rate

 - the monthly payment that you can afford

 - how soon you want to pay off your debt

 You can find many different types of credit card debt calculators on the Internet and use them to compute the time it will take you to pay off your debts, thereby informing you how much a certain credit card is costing you in money.

This in turn will motivate you to work harder in paying off your credit card debts faster.

 In addition, a credit card debt calculator shows you details such as the interest rate you are currently being charged, and how much of your payment is actually interest. Since calculating interest rates is considered by most as a complex task, you should use your credit card debt calculator.

 Now, your credit card debt calculator can also predict the amount of your debt over the next few years. It can also compute the APR interest rate for you.

 Having read this far, you must agree when I say that the credit card debt calculator is indeed a very useful tool to help us get out of debts. Financial experts and consultants have long used these calculators. For people who are not so financially-literate, owning these credit card debt calculators is real life-saver.

 As useful and powerful as credit card debt calculators may be, you should always ask the advice of a qualified financial personnel before making any financial decision.

Remember, it is always better to be safe than sorry.