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7 simple ways to improve your credit score

Build Better Credit » 7 simple ways to improve your credit score

Eliminate 'nuisance balances'
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Eliminate 'nuisance balances'

"A good way to improve your score is to eliminate nuisance balances," says John Ulzheimer, president of consumer education for SmartCredit.com. Those are the small balances you have on a number of credit cards.

The reason this strategy can help your score: One of the items your score considers is just how many of your cards have balances, says Ulzheimer.

So charging $50 on one card and $30 on another, instead of using the same card (preferably one with a good interest rate), can hurt your score, he says.

The solution to improve your credit score: Gather up all those credit cards on which you have small balances and pay them off, Ulzheimer says. Then select one or two go-to cards that you can use for everything.

"That way, you're not polluting your credit report with a lot of balances," he says.


 

 

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