If you want to raise, or boost, your credit score, we have some good news for you: Everything you need to do to raise or improve your credit score you can do yourself. There are credit repair companies who promise to fix your credit for a fee, but there isn't anything they do that you can't do yourself. Before we take you step-by-step what you can do to raise your credit score, let's review for a moment how credit scores are determined and how they work:
Most credit scores range between 450 and 850. The higher your credit score, the better chance you have of saving a lot of money on virtually everything you finance, from a home or refinance, auto loan, even credit cards. Your credit score can even affect your insurance rates.
At stake can be tens of thousands of dollars or much more over the life of a consumer. The good news is that credit scores are constantly changing. Recent payment history is what affects your score more than anything else. One late payment in the past three months can lower your score more than a 90 day late several years ago.