(ThyBlackMan.com) If you are facing great difficulty making ends meet, your budget and bank balance are probably taking a hit. Something else that will get affected in such situations is your credit score. Making repayments can be challenging when you are going through a financial crisis. Missing them or making late payments can take a heavy toll on your credit score. If you are in a similar situation, you are probably trying to find legit ways to salvage your credit score even with a low income.
But before we discuss how you can improve your credit score, let us first understand how a bad credit score affects you:
- Private lenders will charge you higher interest rates if you apply for a loan with a low credit score.
- A bad credit score can also mess up your chances of getting approved for loans, like debt consolidation loans or personal loans in the future.
Having a low income doesn’t automatically mean a bad credit score. There are various ways to help improve your credit score if you have a low income.
Five ways to enhance your credit score with a low income
Here are five steps you should take if your credit score has taken a hit and your finances are tight:
Check your credit report
Your first and foremost step should be to check your credit report for errors, inconsistencies, discrepancies, and misinformation. Inconsistencies and differences may be rare, but they happen all the same. It’s better to play safe and check your credit report to ensure all your information is up to date and accurate. If you see anything unusual, get in touch with your lender.
Authorized user
If one of your family members has a good credit score, ask them if they can allow you to become an authorized user on their credit card. Loans for low-income earners can be challenging to get approved for, and asking for a family’s help is a good option. If you are one of the authorized users of someone else’s credit card, you can borrow money from it. You can also repay whatever you borrow. However, the actual credit card bill will be billed to the user. Your credit score will remain unaffected.
Secured credit card
Secured credit cards are believed to be easier to get approved for than unsecured credit cards since secured credit cards are backed by a cash deposit upfront. That cash is refundable and acts as collateral. If you repay your debt, that cash deposit will be refunded. If you default, the lender will take that deposit as collateral.
Adding house rent to your credit report
House rent is never sent to credit bureaus, but it can be added to your credit report with little effort. You can ask your landlord or property owner to report your rent payments to the credit bureaus. Before doing this, check if there’s any fee you need to pay.
Paying bills on time
The most significant way to improve your credit is to make sure you pay your monthly bills on time. If you have a remarkable history of paying bills on time, your credit score can improve no matter what. Similarly, not paying your bills can harm your credit score.
Bottomline
While taking the necessary measures to improve your credit score, remember that this will take time, and you will have to be consistent with your habits & practices. Following the steps for a short time and expecting instant results will only break your heart. Damaging your credit takes only a short time, while restoring it will take a long time. Don’t lose hope, and be patient. If you continue to build better financial habits and look for ways to boost your credit, your credit can drastically improve.
Staff Writer; Jerry Barker