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What Are 3 Quick Ways to Boost My Credit Score Right Away? · Becoming Financially Confident

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  Ralph: You've been working hard on your finances, you know your goals, but then
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  that single number, your credit score, feels like you just hit a brick wall.
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  Maybe it's lower than you expected and it's holding you back, and
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  that feeling of disappointment of frustration, it's heavy, isn't it?
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  What if there are powerful, quick actions that you can take right now
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  to see that number start climbing and finally cut through that frustration.
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  Well stick with me because we're diving into exactly how to find
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  that breakthrough on today's show.
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  Hey there, and welcome back to your Daily Financially Confident Christian.
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  I'm Ralph, and it's genuinly great to be with you again.
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  Remember, this is the show that helps you answer that question, how can I
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  become a financially confident Christian?
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  And we're continuing in our series dealing with the stress of money worries.
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  Now, yesterday we talked about understanding your credit report
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  and your score, and we talked about how to dispute issues if you have
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  something wrong on your credit report.
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  Well, today we're gonna take that knowledge even a step further, and we're
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  gonna actively talk about improving your credit score with some immediate impact.
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  So let's ask today, what are three quick ways to boost my
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  credit score and do it right away?
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  Now you've checked your credit score, like I said, perhaps you, you
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  were avoiding it for a long time, but, but now you've seen it, you've
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  taken my advice and you've seen it.
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  Now you're looking at that number and you're like, Ralph, this
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  number is not what I expected.
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  And honestly, it feels like a punch in the gut.
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  It feels like disappointment, a silent barrier to the goals that you have.
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  those dreams that you have, like buying a home or getting a good loan rate, or
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  even getting the loan into first place.
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  And you understand deep down, you know that building credit takes time.
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  This initial discouragement, it's just heart threatening.
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  It's heartbreaking, and you feel stuck.
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  Then you feel like you're, you're stuck in this struggle of wanting this
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  immediate impact while letting the credit bureau build your report over
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  the long term, and it feels so limiting.
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  But here's the thing.
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  You need to understand, and, and I, and I completely understand that
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  frustration, and I understand that disappointment, I've been there.
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  I remember at one point when I wasn't honoring my credit.
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  And I wanted to go get a new car loan and I went into the finance
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  office and the guy sat me down.
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  He says, Ralph, I listen.
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  Your credit score is not great.
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  And I kind of knew that I wasn't doing the right things.
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  And man, that was frustrating and that was disappointing.
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  And you need to understand something right from the get go.
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  Here.
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  Building credit is a marathon.
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  It's not some sprint.
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  So the things I'm gonna share with you today aren't going to make a
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  huge impact overnight, but they're going to start making an impact.
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  These aren't magic tricks.
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  They are wise applications of how scoring works and how to
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  get you to that next level.
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  Because remember, God calls us to be diligent and make the most of every
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  opportunity, and I found two verses from the Bible, which really key in on that.
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  The first one is Proverbs chapter four, verse seven says, this, wisdom is supreme.
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  Therefore, get wisdom, though it costs you all you have.
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  Get understanding what a great Bible verse, and then the book of Ephesians,
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  chapter five, verses 15 and 16.
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  It says this, be very careful then how you live, not as unwise, but as wise.
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  And I love the ending to this, making the most of every opportunity.
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  That's what today's about.
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  It's about making the most of every opportunity, and this is an opportunity
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  to get into that level of stewardship.
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  And these quick actions are just opportunities to accelerate that financial
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  health that you're on, strategically boosting your credit score to build that
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  diligence, stewardship, and open up some doors for better terms and reduce stress.
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  Really leveraging the opportunities that for God's purposes by
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  improving your financial reputation.
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  So now you're probably thinking, Ralph, what can we do?
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  Well, I've got a solution, and this is moving beyond limitation.
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  You gotta start thinking, how do you move from feeling limited and disappointed
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  to confidently taking immediate action?
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  So here's my single crucial solution, and this is an intentional plan to
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  implement one or two specific high impact actions that can quickly
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  begin to improve your credit score.
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  And I want you to just focus on the factors.
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  This means focusing on the factors that lenders weigh the most heavily for smart,
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  targeted effort and rapid improvement.
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  So here's your one action step for today, to quickly boost your credit score.
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  And I'm gonna give you three things that I feel like you can do.
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  The first thing, and this is the biggest one that you can
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  do, and that's aggressively pay down your credit card balances.
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  This is the big winner in the credit reporting situation.
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  The best thing you can do is pay down your card balances because
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  it's gonna have the fastest impact.
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  And here's a little thing that a lot of people don't mention.
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  The real key here is to try to get what they call your
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  utilization ratio below 30%.
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  So if, for example, if you've got a thousand dollars credit
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  card, you want to try to get that credit card balance below $300.
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  Now you're probably saying, Ralph.
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  Yeah, but the whole thing is I use it, right?
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  But see, here's the thing you gotta understand.
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  They look at your credit utilization, that credit utilization, if you're up
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  to 70, 80, 90%, that signifies an issue that could reduce your credit score.
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  Because, and see if you, suddenly drop the amount that you owe, it's
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  gonna boost your credit report.
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  Now here's another thing that you can do, and this one is just a matter
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  of finding a trusted family member.
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  And, and this, listen, I'm gonna tell you right now, it's gotta be somebody
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  who has good credit, you know, low balance, long history on time payments.
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  Ask them to add you as an authorized user.
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  Now, here's a little trick.
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  They don't even have to give you access to the card or give you access to the
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  account, just adding you to that as an authorized user, because then what happens
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  is you're gonna inherit their positive history and that can appear on your credit
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  report, potentially boosting your score.
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  And here's the final thing.
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  That you can do, and a lot of people have done this to try to boost their
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  credit score and that's in check to see if rent or utility payments can
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  be reported on your credit report.
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  Now, traditionally, bills often are not reported, but there are services
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  like Boost where you can have your rent reported and that way it starts
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  to show on your credit report and those consistent on-time payments, add
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  positive history, potentially lifting your score and it can lift it right away.
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  Now you might be saying, Ralph, how does this help?
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  Well, here's how it helps.
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  It fights that, that, that feeling of being stuck, it directly
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  combats that struggle of feeling stuck with that low score and that
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  discouragement that comes along with it.
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  It also is empowering because it empowers you with knowledge and
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  some practical steps for things that you can do to make a quick impact.
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  It improves your financial reputation faster than just sitting back and waiting.
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  See, that's the thing, like I could tell you to sit back and wait.
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  Make sure you pay your bills on time.
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  Yes, your credit score will improve, but these things can accelerate that,
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  and it's gonna help you build that confidence that's going to empower
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  you to pursue greater financial goals and do that with greater confidence.
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  Well, let's pray together now.
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  Father God, we just thank you for your wisdom and for the opportunities
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  that you give us to improve our lives.
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  And Lord, we confess that a low credit score can feel limiting and it can
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  feel discouraging, and we just ask that you would grant us diligence
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  to implement these quick actions.
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  Help us to be strategic and help us to be wise in managing our financial reputation.
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  And Lord, we just ask that you would bless our efforts to improve our
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  credit score so that we can have more doors opened up for good stewardship.
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  And Lord, we just ask that it would help bring us greater financial peace.
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  And we ask this in confidence.
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  In Jesus' name, Amen.
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  Now look, these are quick actions that can give you a real boost
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  and like I said, It's gonna take time to build excellent credit.
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  If you take smart quick actions, it can definitely boost your score sooner.
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  So I'm gonna encourage you take that step today.
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  And even if you just implement one of those things, one of those
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  strategies, it's going to help move you towards financial freedom.
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  And again, if this show, today's show has resonated with you, I'm gonna
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  encourage you to share it with somebody.
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  Somebody else might be feeling the same way you're feeling.
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  And you can find resources and connect with the
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  show@financiallyconfidentchristian.com.
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  And I've got a special gift for you if you go to financially
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  confident christian.com/master.
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  I'm gonna give you a free copy of my latest book and it's
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  called Mastering Your Finances.
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  It's a quick, powerful read to break that cycle of financial shame.
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  Confidence.
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  Now, tomorrow we're gonna be talking about the income side of this.
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  We're gonna move away from credit and debt and we're gonna talk about
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  the income side and ask the question, is the real source of stress, your
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  income, or are there new opportunities?
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  So I'm gonna encourage you to not miss it.
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  Now, let's all go out there and be financially confident.
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  Christians, you can do this.
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  I have confidence in you.
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  Have confidence in yourself.
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  Stay financially savvy.
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  God bless you, and you have a great day today.