Your credit score is determined by 5 factors: payment history, debt amount, length of credit history, new credit, and your credit mix. The sooner you are able to start establishing credit is better. However, do not feel the need to charge every single purchase. Understand what your income allows and budget wisely. While there is no quick fix to establishing or rebuilding credit, there are some things you can do to help boost your credit score.
- Make all monthly payments on time. Pay above the minimum requirement if you can so you pay down any debts quicker.
- Keep your debt balances low. A portion of your credit score is based on your overall credit utilization, meaning how much debt you are carrying over your total credit limit. Try not to exceed using 30% of your credit limit.
- Do not open many new lines or credit at once if you don’t need to. Opening new credit accounts require your credit score being pulled, which will knock points off of your score. Also, if there are several newer accounts that will lower your average account age, which makes up part of your credit score.
- Keep accounts open as long as your able to, especially with a zero balance. The higher your overall credit limit and the longer you have credit established will help your credit score. If you have multiple forms of credit that charges you an annual fee, you may want to reevaluate which are best to keep open for your credit health.
- Monitor your credit score to check for any irregularities or discrepancies.