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.

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.

How to Get Serious Debt Help

When the phone calls won’t stop, the mail won’t stop coming chalk full of overdue bills, and you don’t want to turn on your cell phone because the creditors somehow got that number, it’s hard to know where to turn and what to do.

If you answer the phone calls, those on the other end are going to want money that you just don’t have. The letters in the mail are threatening court dates and loss of property if you don’t start paying, but that doesn’t help you financially; no matter what they threaten, you can’t give them something you don’t have.

There is hope, do not throw in the towel. Your search for how to get serious debt help will not be in vain. The help may be easier than you think and will definitely improve your quality life as you struggle through this tough time.

Sometimes it’s not too late for self-help. If you have been receiving phone calls and can’t pay all of the minimum balances that you owe, if you can just pay something..anything on the debts, you’ll be surprised how much you’ll be able to take care of your serious debt problem yourself. If you contact them, express your wish to get back in their good graces and the fact that you just can’t pay what you owe currently, many times they will offer to lower your minimum for a certain amount of time. Sometimes, if you continue conversations with them, you will find that they will be willing to offer you a settlement amount that is usually around 70-80% of what you actually owe them. If you can get your hands on that and wash your hands of the whole ordeal, jump on it. It will be resolved quickly and often there will be nothing negative on your credit report.

If you’ve gone beyond a self-help approach and wonder how to get serious debt help from a specialist in debt relief, there are several avenues out there that will do just that.

There are debt consolidation loans. If you’re eligible for one of those you will be able to pay your debt off and make one low monthly payment that will surely be less than you’re paying currently.

There are debt settlement companies that will help you work with your creditors for you to receive the offers of settlement. Often you will end up paying 40-60% of what you actually owe.

There are credit counselors that will not try to reduce your overall debt, but they will work with your credit companies to lower the interest each month and lower the minimum so that you can work on the principal balance a little more.

Any of these choices will help you get on your way to being out of debt, but you will have to be the person to keep you there.

There are several ways to search when looking for how to get serious debt help relief.

It can be mind boggling when you review your finances and find that you could owe that much, but there is hope.

Whichever route you choose, be vigilant about not returning to this financial state. Getting out of this once is an adventure I don’t think anyone would want to repeat.

by guest author - Jon Ochs

 This is one of my most favorite articles that I have written because it addresses so many questions that people have about credit. I love watching the eyes of my clients widen when they find out the truth about some of these most common myths.

 You will be hearing some things that will most likely be the opposite of what you currently believe. Keep in mind that credit and credit reports are not widely understood, and even those in the financial and credit industry, often do not have a good understanding. With that in mind, let's get started

 Myth 1: Paying off collection accounts, tax liens, judgments, or late payments will remove the negative item from my credit reports.

 This is simply not true. In fact, by paying off an old collection account, you can actually lower your credit scores. The reason for this is because more recent negative items will hurt your score more than older negative items. If you pay off an old collection account, not only will the collection account remain on your reports as a paid collection, but it will now show a current date, and c