Don’t Do 1. Forget to get your credit report.
Make it a point to get your credit report each year from the primary credit bureaus. This helps to keep you updated with your credit status and gives you ample opportunity to check if your transactional details are accurate and up-to-date. Remember that credit reports are used not only for financial reasons but also your employers often keep a track of the same.
Don’t Do 2. Cosign with someone with a credit risk.
If you cosign with someone who is a bad credit risk , for eg. your spouse, you must be aware that you are responsible for the account if the other person involved fails to repay a loan.
Don’t Do 3. Deny to give same individual information for identification purpose for every loan application.
It is a good practice to give same identification info for eg name, telephone number, social security number each time that you apply for a credit. Tips: If you use a middle name, either use it al all times or don’t use it ever. In this way you can ensure that you don’t land up getting duplicate files.
Don’t Do 4. Neglect to form your own credit information
Sometimes it may happen that you don’t have a credit report on your name. After marriage you get to use your spouse’s account as an authorized user. In this scenario if you ever plan to file a divorce, then you might lose all the benefits. So, it is very essential to get credit on your own name right from the beginning.
Don’t Do 5. Load your bag with too many credit cards
Often credit card gives you a false sense of achievement, but in reality you achieve nothing but debt. Credit card is meant for emergency use only and hence the term “plastic money”. Use of cash serves best in order to lead a healthy debt-free life. Have as few cards as possible so that you can keep a track your expenditures and can avoid running into a bad debt.
Don’t Do 6. Repay minimal amounts
Are you happy to repay the smallest amount possible each month against your loan? The only person who is benefiting form this is your creditor. The lesser you pay, the longer you take, thus incurring high interest amount on your actual loan money. Ultimately you land up paying a lot more,
Don’t Do 7. You think its not so important to fix errors on your credit report.
However slight the error may look, it is important to fix it up. This will avoid duplicate files of your account. Check all incorrect balances and closed account printed as open or vice-versa. This might lead to a lot of discrepancies in the long run. Keep your credit report error-free to live a trouble-free life.
Don’t Do 8. Names are matched in your family
If your family has members with same names with different titles like, Jr, Sr or post-fixes like I, II and III, then make sure that your credit information are not intermingled. If there is any discrepancy, report it to the concerned department immediately. Beware of anyone trying to misuse your credit.
Don’t Do 9. You think that late payments don’t reflect on your credit report.
Are you aware that if you are 30 days late in paying , your creditor is free to report the delinquency to a credit bureau. This is turn affects you in long run to get a good interest rate or future credit. So, keep a track of payment due dates and follow a ‘spend-less pay-early’ method.
Don’t Do 10. Last but not the least, Failing to pay at all
However small the balance is , not paying it affects your credit report throughout your life. So don’t keep aside a card just because you don’t use it anymore. Pay the dues to every penny.
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