Having the best credit

Here's the Cliff Note's version:1. Continue paying on time, of course2. If you carry balances, reduce them -- not necessarily to zero, but to less than, say, 10% of your available credit limits.3. Do NOT close any credit card accounts. Keep what you have.4. If it takes you some time to achieve #2, then try to avoid being close to maxed out on any one card -- ie, transfer balances so that they are all about evenly utilized as you pay them down.Avoid doing anything to get credit inquiries until you educate yourself more (don't idly apply for more credit cards or loans if not absolutely necessary).

Credit score boost

Your score will of course increase by removing these items, and probably quite at a bit. Most likely it will boost you up to about 620+ because credit history, while it is a very important part of your score -- it isnt the only thing that matters...When you're trying to build a solid credit score it's important to get a comprehensive view of what is actually effecting it...Your Credit Score (also known as your MyFico score) is calculated with the following breakdown:* 35% -> History of Payments* 30% -> Debt to Credit Ratio (available credit)* 15% -> Credit History (length of open accounts)* 10% -> New Credit (are you expanding your credit)* 10% -> Credit Types in Use (varied credit types from loans to credit cards) If you excel in one area and lack in another, only fixing the areas which you lack are going to improve your score.So let me give you some tips to help you futher...I raised mine to well over 700 points fro 500 using these steps in less than a year:1. Know and Track Your Credit Score (be sure to sign up for the free trial of your credit score monitoring listed below. It really helped my get my score up.)2. Never Miss a Payment, Starting Today3. Never use more than 20% of your Available Credit4. Keep Credit Cards that Have No Annual Fees Open For as Long as Possible5. Extend Your Credit Limit on Cards You Already Have before You Get New Ones6. Get Credit Cards that Have CashBack Rewards to Contribute to your Balance7. Transfer Your Balance to a Credit Card with a Lower Interest Rate and a Higher Available Credit-8. If You Think You Are Going to be FORCED to Pay a Bill Late Ask for an Extension or Payment Plan9. Take out a Small Personal Loan and Repay it Over a Year10. Ask Someone With Good Credit if They will Account Shadow you

are credit cards good or bad?

credit cards are bad if you do not know how to manage your money but they are good if you know how to use them you are even able to gain rewards if you use them right, just make your payments higher then your minimum and you should be ok, check out http://www.energyscales.com and check out their cards with rewards. good luck

How often are credit ratings updated?

Every month

Rebuilding bad credit

This is what makes up your credit score:1. Payment history- 35%2. Total debt owed to available credit ratio-30%3. Length of time establishing credit-15%4. Types of credit established-10%5. Inquiries and New accounts-10%

In order to build credit, you must first start establishing new accounts to raise your score. The best way to do this by opening a secured card. The reason I suggest this is that not only it's easier to apply for because you're placing a deposit to establish a credit line, but you're able to custom-build a credit card that will rebuild your score, since the limit can be increased by adding to the deposit. The deposit will be key because this can double as the down payment that you could use towards the home later on. For example, if you deposited $300, then your credit line would be $300, you deposit $2000, and so on, and so on. The higher you get the limit, the better it will look on your report because you should have a sizable cushion between the available credit you're using and the total available credit. The best way to use this card would be to make small purchases ($20/max) pay it off on time to show activity, and increase the limit every month. This way you're building credit without going into debt. Usually after a year of on time payments, the card upgrades to a regular credit card, and more importantly, the deposit is given back. Hopefully if you've gotten the limit as high as you possibly can, you will already have a good portion of the down payment and or other expenses toward buying the new house.

Also, another thing you can do is enroll with PRBC- PRBC is America's Alternative Credit Bureau, providing a helpful service to the over 50 million people with limited or no credit history. If you pay your monthly bills on time, PRBC can help you build credit to qualify for a mortgage and better interest rates.On-time payments for the following bills are not reported to the traditional credit bureaus:

Rent
Cable
Phone
Daycare
Insurance
Electric Natural
Gas
Cell
Phone

The only time your payments for these bills are reported to the other credit bureaus is if they're missing or late.With PRBC, your on-time payments count. You build credit for paying your bills on time, even if you have no credit history. PRBC offers two simple ways to start building credit today.

In Summary

In summary: You don't need to carry a balance on a credit card to have a good credit score. Paying your bill off in full is the best way to keep your finances in shape and build your credit at the same time.Pay your bills on time. Delinquent payments can have a major negative impact on your score and the longer you pay your bills on time, the better your score. Keep balances low on credit cards. High outstanding debt can affect your score. Maxing out your credit cards could lower your average score by as much as 70 points. Don't open a number of new credit cards that you don't need. New accounts will lower your average account age, which could actually lower your score by up to 10 points. Have credit cards - but manage them responsibly. Having credit cards and installment loans (and making timely payments) will raise your score. Someone with no credit cards, for example, tends to be higher risk than someone who has managed credit cards responsibly. Good luck!

Building your credit

Therefore, to build or repair your credit, if you have extra cash, pay down as much of your debt as possible. The lower your ratio of current debt to available credit limits, the better you look to a lender, and the higher your credit score will be. The flip side of this is to call existing credit card accounts you may have and ask them to increase your limit, though you won't actually use it. You should do this as often as possible, even if you don't need the credit. This will also increase your credit score. However, please, do not not open additional credit card accounts to increase this ratio, since that may hurt your credit unless you have under 4 open credit cards. But increased credit limits on existing accounts will help since you will be lowering your overall debt ratio.