The Bad Credit Survival Guide

The BAD CREDIT Survival Guide We all know that having bad credit can cause a lot problems in life, but what's the best way to get out of this jungle? Use this step-by-step guide to navigate your way to better credit. PAYMENT HISTORY CREDIT TYPES HOW YOUR NEW CREDIT 10% 10% CREDIT SCORE IS DETERMINED 35% 15% CREDIT LENGTH 30% AMOUNTS OWED BAD CREDIT SURVIVAL STEPS . 1 STOP COLLECTION CALLS Most people don't realize that simply writing a letter will make collectors go away (phone calls and letters). The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act requires collection agencies to stop contacting you if you write them a oo letter demanding they do so. 2 REMOVE INACCURACIES Ensuring that your credit report is free of inaccuracies is one of the most important aspects of maintaining healthy credit. It's important that you carefully check and have inaccuracies corrected or removed by disput- ing with the credit agencies. 3 SPREAD OUT CREDIT CARD DEBT Generally, it's better to have multiple cards with low balances than to have one that's nearly maxed out. If possible, consider transferring high balance cards to cards with lower balances. You should try and keep bal- ances under 50% of the card's limit. 4 KEEP OLDEST ACCOUNTS OPEN Many people make the mistake of thinking that closing negative accounts will improve their credit. Rather, closing accounts (particularly older accounts) can have a negative impact on your credit score. A large part of your credit score is based on credit length, so keep your oldest accounts open. . 5 NEVER BE LATE! The key to improving your credit is building positive credit history. Therefore, during the process of rebuild- ing your credit, it's extremely important that you take great care to ensure you're not late on any payments. Otherwise, you'll have to start from square one. Budgetable Can't stick to a budget? Intelligent budgeting software does it for you. http://budgetable.com