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Is poor credit keeping you from achieving your goals of purchasing a house or that new car? There’s good news! Your credit doesn’t have to stand in your way forever. While certain credit mishaps will stay on your credit report for seven years, and bankruptcies can linger for ten years, there are several simple steps that you can take to start rebuilding your credit right away!

The first step that you should take is to begin paying your existing debt on time going forward. What happened in the past should stay there, but your credit score will thank you when you make payments on time. The goal should be to keep your balance, especially on credit cards, low. The definition of ‘Low’ usually means you are utilizing less than 30% of your available credit. For example, if your credit card has $1,000 limit, it is best to keep a balance of $300 or less on it.

A secondary option that Millbury National Bank would love to assist you with is opening a cash secured loan. When establishing a cash secured loan, you are creating the opportunity to have consistent and timely Installment Loan payments reported to the credit bureau. The best part about this type of loan is that you can obtain it even with poor credit history. With a cash secured loan, there is no need for you to sign over any of your own money as collateral, since the proceeds from the loan are used to secure the Note. Once you have repaid the loan in full, the proceeds that were being held as collateral will be released and put into your pocket so you can get back to focusing on step number one!

Lastly, but equally as important, is to practice good financial habits. Nothing that was previously talked about will work if you are unable to be honest with yourself about your spending limits. Take a hard look at your own personal finances and budget to see if you can eliminate unwanted or unused bills that you pay for monthly. Have a gym membership that you haven’t used in a year? Nix it! Cable bill too high? Call your provider and negotiate. They are usually willing to work with you. Your goal should be to pay down all your debts and ultimately pay them off to eliminate them altogether. By doing so, over time your credit score should see a substantial improvement and allow you to achieve your other financial goals!