If you have bad credit you will want to take steps to improve it right away. That does not mean that you need to find quick fixes. The truth is that there is no way to fix your credit in a quick manner. It takes time to bring your credit score back up. You may want to begin to watch how you use credit and control your spending to begin to improve your credit score. 

Before you take any measures to improve your credit, you need to know exactly where you stand. You can get a free copy of your credit report. Once you receive this data, you will want to make sure that it is correct. 

If you find any errors, you need to contact the credit bureau and the reporting agency. Disputed information can include late charges and account balances that are incorrect. You will need to write a letter to the credit bureau and the creditor to explain the incorrect information and include any and all documentation you have to prove this claim. The entire process can take up to thirty to ninety days, but is well worth your effort.

The biggest factor that contributes to your credit score is making your payments on time. Today you can sign up for automatic payments that will draft what is due directly from your bank account. 

If you are not comfortable doing this, then you can sign up for reminders. Reminders come in the form of texts and emails and let you know exactly when a payment is due. Automatic payments may be convenient, but they are not necessarily good since they tend to be forgotten about and do not teach a sense of money management.

Thirty five percent of your credit score is calculated by tracking your payment history. This is why it is so important to make payments on time since it effects your credit score the most. You should not get discouraged if you have had problems making your payments on time in the past. 

Yes it will affect your credit score, but the longer you remain in good standing with your creditors, the better off you will be. The process is long and arduous, but worth every effort to improve your credit score.

If you have not made any payments and let your account slip into delinquency, then your credit score will receive another major blow. Once an account has been reported as delinquent, you will have to try even harder to make future payments on time. 

This applies to just being a few days late. It is imperative that you make payments on time and make a serious attempt to continue this routine. The more you pay your creditors in a timely fashion, the better your score will appear over time. It may take months of prompt payments to raise your score. A single late payment can mean a dip in your credit that takes months to improve.

The good news is that the older a credit problem, the less it counts toward your score. That means that you will not be troubled by bad credit forever. The key is to keep up a decent payment pattern. This will show that you are able to manage your credit better. 

Credit accounts that have been handed over to collection agencies are not good for your credit report. You need to be very careful and try to keep from letting any of your payments get so far behind that they are given to a collection agency to collect. 

Even when these types of accounts are paid off, they remain on your credit report for seven years. Before an account needs to be turned into a collection agency you should try talking to a credit counselor. They can help you lower payments and save extremely bad marks on your credit score by helping you set up a payment plan. Using a credit counselor that is legitimate will not hurt your credit score.

You also need to focus on reducing the amount of debt that you currently owe. The more you are able to pay attention to paying your debt off the more you will feel satisfied regardless of whether it improves your credit score right away. Before you can ever begin to start paying a credit card down, you have to stop using them. 

Interest rates should be considered when you are looking at the payments you make.  If you can pay over and above the interest rate then you will see the amount you owe decrease quicker.  Note that it is a good idea to find the highest interest rate you have on a credit card and apply higher payments to those accounts while you continue to pay the minimum on the rest of your accounts.

Another way you can improve your credit score is by opening new accounts. You will need to make payments on time and take serious responsibility when it comes to paying them off.  In the long run, you will improve your credit score. Be careful and do not open accounts just to have different types of credit cards.  The chances that opening them will raise your credit score is very slim.

If you have bad credit, consider looking at credit cards for bad credit. These can help you establish or re-establish good credit in a timely manner. Just be sure to make your payments on time, as they can hurt you just as bad as any other credit card.

Sometimes people think that just having a credit card will raise your credit score. The truth of the matter is that you will have a higher credit score verses someone who has no credit cards. The key is in maintaining them responsibly and making payments on time. Even if you have had trouble in the past, you can rebuild your credit with determination and timely payments.

Repairing your credit score is more than just about making timely payments, however. Keep in mind that closed accounts will still remain on your credit report and have consideration when figuring your credit score. 

The major thing you can do to fix your credit is fix any errors you may have in your credit history. If you have no errors then maintain excellent credit by making payments on time. Just remember in order to raise your credit score; you will need discipline and patience. It takes time to re-establish a good score once you have a poor mark on your credit.