Building a Credit Foundation

I have often worried about my future - financially speaking. There are so many potential problems and obstacles facing us - the most important of which may be credit. As a newly anointed “adult” at the age of 18, I decided to apply for a credit card. Unfortunately I was approved for a low interest credit card and soon found myself on the dark side of debt and faced a steep climb for the next several years.

It’s fairly easy to tell someone how not to get into the credit trap, but quite another thing altogether to tell them how to get out of it in the inevitable, albeit unfortunate event that they find themselves facing bad credit issues.

However there are a few ways to help yourself raise your credit score - an essential part of financial freedom that will allow you to buy a car, a home, and live considerably more worry-free.

One way to begin down the road of improved credit, is to use the government-mandated free annual credit report. This will allow you to not only see your credit report, but get specific information on what elements are affecting your rating. This will allow to discover and refute any false claims against your report, as well as working to remedy legitimate claims.

In addition to using your credit report to help improve your credit, you also need to work towards rebuilding your credit. There are some secure ways to do this, including using a secure credit card to rebuild your credit. Most banks offer secure credit cards that are backed by a savings account that can help you rebuild your credit. Taking out other small loans and progressing towards larger ones, can help you build your credit slowly over time.

The unfortunate fact about trying to build credit is that you have to take out loans, pay them back (with interest) and then repeat in order to build a strong foundation of credit. It doesn’t happen overnight and it is going to cost money but in the world we live in, credit is an essential part life.