Everyone knows credit scores are important, but past mistakes can often mean carrying around a less than ideal number. Although many people believe it’s impossible to recover from a low score, that simply isn’t the case. Here are five ways to improve your credit and thus improve your score.

1. Improve your credit with a free score and monitoring service.

Maintaining a healthy credit score means keeping tabs on that magical number at all times. A great way to do this is through Credit Sesame, which offers consumers like you a completely free credit score and monitoring service. All you have to do is head Credit Sesame, create an account, and let the company do the rest.

All of your information will be updated by Credit Sesame each month, along with a breakdown of your credit accounts. Find out what affects your credit and how to better it.

You’ll also receive real-time alerts anytime something changes on your TransUnion credit report. This is a great way to ensure that you’re notified in the case of fraudulent activity, allowing you to take action right away if your card has gotten into the wrong hands. It can also allow you to catch and correct any errors on your report. This is particularly valuable considering millions of Americans have mistakes on their reports.

Sign up for Credit Sesame’s free credit score and monitoring service.

2. Build your credit.

Everyone begins their credit journey at the same place – with no credit at all. Building credit is seen as a major priority for most consumers (and rightly so), but most people are misinformed about what is required to achieve a stellar score. While some set out to build a healthy score by spending money on credit cards, others take a more sensible approach.

Self Lender allows people just like you to open a credit builder account – a small loan held in a CD account for a year. For the most popular flagship account, the company lends you $1,100. You make payments of $89 into your CD account each month, and Self Lender shares your payment history with the three major credit bureaus. This is important because payment history accounts for the majority (35%) of your credit score.

When it’s time to cash out your CD, you’ve built credit history and you get $1,000 back. It’s a pretty sweet deal when you compare it to the alternative of carrying around credit card debt and paying high interest rates. And the best part is that you only need $12 to start, which pays for Self Lender’s administrative fee.

Self Lender isn’t just a smarter way of building credit – it’s also effective. Customers who pay into their accounts on time (while also meeting their other financial obligations) see an average score increase of 40 points in six months for the flagship account.

Start building better credit with Self Lender today by clicking here.

3. Repair your credit.

Your credit probably isn’t perfect. Maybe it’s even found its way into the ‘bad’ category (generally believed to be 560 or under). That’s okay. You can recover by using a service that has been helping people raise their scores for over 27 years.

That service is Lexington Law. They offer every potential client a free consultation, giving you – and your credit score – personalized attention. Once they’ve analyzed your situation, they come up with a plan to help get your score back on track. This often involves asking creditors to remove old negative marks from your credit report, as well as disputing the validity of certain items.

Lexington Law has a proven track record, helping clients get inaccurate, obsolete, and unverifiable items removed from their credit reports. The year 2016 saw the company collectively get nine million negative items removed from reports. Many of those related to late payments, liens, bankruptcies, foreclosures, and repossessions.

If you choose to go ahead after your free consultation, you’ll be able to pick from a number of plan options beginning at $89.95 a month. You’ll also be able to keep tabs on all the great things Lexington Law is doing by tracking your progress online.

Contact Lexington Law for your free consultation.

4. Use A Payoff Loan To Pay Off Credit Card Debt & Raise Your FICO Score.

Pay off your credit card debt faster with a Payoff Loan. The Payoff Loan gives you the power to reduce multiple high-interest payments into one low-rate monthly payment.
You don’t have to cut up your cards or close accounts, and after you pay off your balances with the Payoff Loan, your credit score can increase by 40+ points!

Paying off your credit cards is one of the best investments you can make. The Payoff Loan is a personal loan between $5,000 and $35,000 designed to eliminate or lower your credit card balances. The Payoff Loan is designed to allow you to take control of your finances and pay your credit cards off faster.

There are no application fees or commitments, and it does not impact your credit score. A team member from Payoff’s California office is always ready to help you.

Based on a study of Payoff Members between August 2017 and February 2018. Payoff Members, who paid off at least $5,000 in credit card balances, saw an average increase in their FICO® Score of 40 points within four months of receiving the Payoff Loan. Individual results may vary.

Apply for a Payoff Loan.

*Payoff is currently not available in Massachusetts, Mississippi, Nebraska, Nevada, and West Virginia. If you live in one of these states, Upstart is another great option. Founded by ex-Googlers that wanted to bring fair and fast personal loans. You can check your rate with Upstart in 2 minutes.