Money Smarts Blog

If you’re struggling with bad credit, it may seem impossible to repair it, but fear not! With time and effort even the worst credit can be restored. The key to improving your credit history is establishing good habits. Your credit history is a lot like your driving record—it takes into account years of past behavior, not just your most recent activity. While there’s no quick fix to repairing bad credit, there are some easy steps you can take to get back on the right path.

1. Check your credit report Repairing your credit score begins with your credit report, and contrary to popular belief, it’s not bad to check your own credit report. Request a free copy of your credit report at annualcreditreport.com and check it for errors. You’ll never know what’s hurting your score if you don’t look.

Got your report? Good. Now look for any mistakes, like falsely reported late payments or accounts that aren’t even yours. If anything is amiss, you can dispute errors with the creditor and have it removed.

What exactly is the difference between your credit report and credit score?

Your credit report is a detailed history of your credit use. The data in them is used to calculate your 3-digit credit scores.

Lenders then use that number (your credit score) to evaluate how safe or risky you are as a customer to determine if and how much money they're willing to lend you.

Stay tuned next week for Step #2.

If you’re struggling with bad credit, it may seem impossible to repair it, but fear not! With time and effort even the worst credit can be restored. The key to improving your credit history is establishing good habits. Your credit history is a lot like your driving record—it takes into account years of past behavior, not just your most recent activity. While there’s no quick fix to repairing bad credit, there are some easy steps you can take to get back on the right path.

1. Check your credit report Repairing your credit score begins with your credit report, and contrary to popular belief, it’s not bad to check your own credit report. Request a free copy of your credit report at annualcreditreport.com and check it for errors. You’ll never know what’s hurting your score if you don’t look.

Got your report? Good. Now look for any mistakes, like falsely reported late payments or accounts that aren’t even yours. If anything is amiss, you can dispute errors with the creditor and have it removed.

What exactly is the difference between your credit report and credit score?

Your credit report is a detailed history of your credit use. The data in them is used to calculate your 3-digit credit scores.

Lenders then use that number (your credit score) to evaluate how safe or risky you are as a customer to determine if and how much money they're willing to lend you.

Stay tuned next week for Step #2.