New Year’s Resolution: 5 Steps to Fix Your Credit Score Together

Money affects just about every decision you make together. Your credit score is an important part of your financial picture and having a bad one can cause a lot of tension in your Money Relationship. This New Year’s, resolve to get your credit score back on track together.

Start with the following steps:
1. Start as a united front. You have to be on the same page as a couple to make this score go up. Couples that can agree on the importance of this issue in their relationship and move forward, and have a much better chance at success.

2. See what is real! You need to know the numbers. What is your score and how bad is it? This is not the time to point fingers or blame. This is a time to evaluate what your score is.
800 + Excellent
730 – 799 Great
680 – 729 Good
580 – 679 Average
500 – 579 Bad
Below 499 Very Bad

3. Pay your bills on time!!! Consistency is the key to bringing your score up. Working on this as a couple will also improve your relationship your money relationship. You both need to carry your share of the bill paying load.

4. Pay down your bills as much as you can. The amount of credit that you have available will help bring your score up! As a couple you will need to be accountable to each other and work to keep paying them down.

5. Do NOT cancel your accounts as soon as you pay them off. Oftentimes, as couples we just want to throw them away. However, the only way to build back the score is to have the credit available for a period of time.

If you follow these five steps and continue your regular Money Huddles, you can toast to a great New Year, and a new credit score!