Building your credit score with minimal effort

When a personal credit score has been damaged due to sending loans into default, carrying a rollover balance on credit cards or a number of other reasons, it can take years to restore to good standing. During this time, lenders may be hesitant to offer the funds needed to make ends meet and credit card companies might not want to allow a new line of credit to be opened.

However, there are a number of steps consumers can take to fix this problem relatively quickly. According to The Christian Science Monitor, numerous actions can be taken that require minimal effort, such as disputing any errors that appear on a credit report - even small ones that don't seem as if they would cause a problem. The source specified that details about inquiries and incorrect dates can actually have a large impact on the bigger picture, and they should be vetted as soon as possible.

The news provider also said that adding every utility account, like electric and telephone bills, is usually beneficial. If consumers call their suppliers and credit bureaus to get these payments to appear, their credit can often be boosted.

In fact, in the case of a particularly dismal credit history, this record of successful payments can be used in itself to create a totally new score - a Payment Reporting Builds Credit score. A valid alternative to a traditional score, individuals who can't access financial relief often rely on this number when seeking out loans or credit cards as they build their other records back up.