Credit markets have tightened. Banks are getting stingy on making new loans, and you need money. Here are a four tips to get your FICO (credit) score up no matter what your financial situation is today so if you must borrow in the future you will have done all you can to make you look like a good credit risk. Remember, credit scores are the deal maker or breaker to a lender.

1. Buy your score so you know what it is. When you order a free credit report, you can order a FICO score from Equifax for $7.95. You could also order your score online from Fair Issac’s website at www.myfico.com for $15.95.

2. Pay your bills on time. Your score rises with timely payments. 35% of the formula that makes up your FICO score counts towards payment history.

3. Reduce your debt. Your credit score reflects the debt ratio for each of your credit cards, so the less debt you have the lower the ratio and the better the chances of being able to borrow.

4. Don’t open any new accounts or credit cards and don’t close any either. Believe it or not, closing an account will have a negative impact on your score.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 16th, 2008 at 8:00 am and is filed under General Interests. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.