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 Increase My FICO Score - Part 2

A high Fico score is a very good thing. The higher the Fico score, the better your credit rating will be.

So when you are wondering "how to increase my FICO score" - we will share some tips to follow to raise your FICO score and keep it high.

Keep in mind, the lower your Fico score, the more problems you will have getting good interest rates, or if your score is real low, you may not be able to get a loan at all.

You should certainly purchase your Fico score, to see where you stand in the scheme of things when it comes to your credit rating.

Because a high Fico score is a good thing, here are a few tips for "how to increase my FICO score" and to help you raise your FICO score.

How To Increase My FICO Score Tip #1

1. If you have no credit history, limited lines of credit, or bad credit, you should ask a family member or friend add you to their credit card as an authorized user. Make sure the account is at least two years old, and does not have a balance of over 50% of the credit limit. Of course your name will be on the card as a registered user, but you will not be using it, you are just interested in the credit history it can provide. If you can do this with more than one card, that will help the situation. You do not want to have a bad pay history or one with high payments because this will effect your score. Remember, a high Fico score is a good thing. The next time the card reports to the credit bureau it will show that you have been on the account from the beginning and the good pay history is yours too. You can raise your score up to 50 points by doing this.

How To Increase My FICO Score Tip #2

2. Manage your own accounts and get them down to below 70% of the credit limit of the card. If you owe too much on your accounts your Fico score will be lower, as they believe you do not manage your credit very well.

How To Increase My FICO Score Tip #3

3. Don’t transfer credit card balances more than once a year, choose the offer that will give you a year of 0% interest. The more new credit you open the lower your FICO score will go. Opening a new card once a year should have no effect.

How To Increase My FICO Score Tip #4

4. You should check your credit rating every 3 to 4 months, but not every week. Every time you run your credit you lose 2 points on your score, and your credit rating does not change that rapidly. A high Fico score is a good thing, so you don’t want to do something to take points away.

How To Increase My FICO Score Tip #5

5. Do check your credit at least once a year to make sure there are no mistakes. You are allowed one free credit report a year, from each of the three top credit bureaus. There is no cost for this, but you will need to pay for your Fico score.

These tips should help to raise your Fico score, but you will need to be diligent in paying the proper amounts on your credit accounts, and paying them on time to keep your FICO score high.

How To Increase My FICO Score | How To Quickly Boost My FICO Score

A Fico score is the credit score lenders use to assess whether you are deserving of a loan through them. No matter what type of credit you are applying for your score will definitely be looked at for the determination.

Your Fico score is calculated by comparing the information in your credit report with the information on the credit reports of thousands of other customers.

This system gives points for each factor that shows a consumer will be able to pay the loan back on time. The Fico score is a 3 digit number between 300 and 850, and is a measuring number to determine how creditworthy a person is. The higher the score the more likely it will be that a person is to be granted a loan. There are several things you can do to raise your Fico score.

If you are in need of a mortgage, a score of 720 or higher indicates a good credit risk. Anyone with a score this high will find it quick and easy to get a loan with very favorable terms. Scores between 650 and 680 is an indication of good credit, but this person will be scrutinized in other areas to be sure they are worthy of credit.

A score of less than 650 will prevent a borrower from getting the best interest rates on a loan as they will be considered a greater credit risk. This does not mean that the will be unable to get credit, but it will be a little more difficult than if they had a higher Fico score. You may need to use a bit of strategy here to raise your Fico score.

About 35% of your Fico score is based on past payment history, this includes late payments and bankruptcies. The fewer times you are late on a payment the better your score will be. A recent late payment hurts your score more than one that was late 5 years ago.

30% of your score is based on outstanding debt, this includes credit card debt, and how much is still owed on installment loans, compared to what the loans were in the beginning. Someone who uses a larger volume of credit is a greater risk than someone who uses less. How long you’ve had credit how long you have had the accounts and how often they are used, this is responsible for 15% of your Fico score. You may need to look at this a bit closer and see how you can raise your Fico score.

If you open several accounts in a fairly short time will make you a bigger credit risk, especially for those who do not have any long established credit histories. This makes up about 10% of your credit score. The other 10% of Fico score includes credit cards and loans, including installment and mortgage loans.

To raise your credit score you will need to practice vigilance on your credit report and Fico score by keeping current and removing any errors. In addition, try to add positive information, if there is negative information such as late payments, try to add an explanation on your credit report.

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.