We’ve all heard the famous saying… “don’t put all your eggs in one basket”… well I have another one for you…

“Conventional wisdom is not to put all of your eggs
in one basket. 80/20 wisdom is to choose a basket carefully,
load all your eggs into it, and then watch it like a hawk.”
— Richard Koch: is a former management consultant,
entrepreneur, and writer

When it comes to the “credit score basket” there really only is one basket so your sole true option is to choose your basket wisely.

With our investment portfolio we can diversify.

We can hold some cash in savings, some bonds, some high risk and some low risk stock, real estate, local and off shore, precious metals, antiques and art and various other assets.

We can position ourself with multiple streams of income, use tax saving methods to shelter some of our income and even hire a financial service advisor.

All Your Eggs in the Credit Score Basket

Although we each have 3 credit reports; one from each of the 3 main credit bureaus, Experian, TransUnion and Equifax ideally they should all hold the same information so our approach is identical for each of them.

In the end we only have one credit score basket to work with so you better take it seriously and make the most of it.

The good thing is that at anytime it is possible to rethink how you use your basket…

As well you can choose to put different things in your basket and take out others…

You have the option of sticking it in the corner and forgetting about it or to carry it with you wherever you go and treat it with respect and care.

Many people scarcely realize they even have a credit score basket which doesn’t rank as an excuse for not having a good one.

How are you treating your credit score basket?

“The chains of habit are too weak to be felt until they are too strong to be broken.”
– Samuel Johnson, Lexicographer

Taking a few minutes now and again to learn more about your credit score rating can help boost your credit score and save you money.

Incredibly most consumers are still unaware of the basic facts about credit scores and the significance it serves on their financial picture.

A recent survey shows only 27% of consumers realize their credit score measures credit risk and the likelihood of them paying back a loan on time.

Considering its importance its well worth the time to adopt a few simple good credit score habits to increase your score.

The three main credit bureaus TransUnion, Exquifax and Experian devise your credit report score as a number between 300 and 850.

Generally those with a credit score in the 700 range get lower interest rates and those with scores of 760 and over get the best rates. If your credit score is 600 or below you will normally be charged higher rates and if your score is very low it is often difficult to be approved for credit at all.

There can be many ins and outs to increasing a credit score but if you only adopted the following 4 good credit score habits you would do wonders to increasing yours.

Once you know your credit score…

4 Good Credit Score Habits to Adopt

1. Always pay your bills on time. Paying bills late have one of the greatest negative impacts on a persons credit score. With a credit score in the 700 range you can raise it as much as 20 points simply by paying your bills on time for 1-2 months.

2. Keep your credit card balances low. A high debt ratio (outstanding balance versus credit limit) can negatively affect your credit score. Continually having your cards maxed out can lower your score as much as 70 points.

3. Don’t obtain new credit you don’t need. New accounts will lower your average account age which can lower your score by up to 10 points.

4. Have credit cards if you use them wisely. Having credit cards and loans (provided you pay your bills on time) will actually raise your credit score. Someone who has never had credit has also never proven they can handle credit properly so they will actually have a lower score than someone with credit used responsibly.

Now that you know the 4 good credit score habits to adopt go out there and create some new “good” habits.

“Abundance is not something we acquire.
It is something we tune into.”

— Wayne Dyer: is an American self-help advocate, author, and lecturer

The free credit score mindset is one where failure is not an option.

You may have setbacks and you will likely make costly mistakes (as we all do that) but in the end your sheer determination to carry on despite the adversity is what is required to finish the journey well.

Many “preach” education and understanding and although these are both good and often necessary they will not get you the “prize” in and of themselves.

I know many incredibly smart, educated and talented people who lack the drive to even begin to utilize a small percentage of their potential. They know exactly what to do and how to do it but for some reason they seem frozen in inaction.

On the flip side I know many others who have little to no education and have a fairly rough “skill set” but are crushing it in their financial world and with improving their credit score simply because they refuse to give up and use their failures as a lesson to grow for next time.

Free Credit Score Mindset

Like the quote above the mindset we need is one we tune into… it is an attitude… a stance… a perspective.

There are many who went before us and countless who currently surround us whose company we would do well to glean from.

Read some books… join some mailing lists… join a Mastermind group and start allowing the attitude for success to begin seeping into your belief system.

The free credit score mindset is available to anyone and everyone… it is there for the taking… well… rather… it is there for the tuning in. Find the proper station today.

“The greatest lesson of life is that you are responsible for your life.”
– Oprah Winfrey, talk show host

The greatest credit score lesson you can ever learn is…

You are responsible for yours.

WOW! Profund huh?

Ok…I realize this may sound really basic but although we all believe this in our minds do we actually know it in our heart?

Do you live your life… think your thoughts… make choices… and act as if this were true?

People come to me in all sorts of life’s situations… while in the middle of a home purchase… entering retirement… training for a new career… saving for their future… trying to improve their credit score and speak of problems and setbacks as if they were to be the end of their hopes and dreams.

They seem to think these situations control their ultimate destiny and therefore mitigate their need to try any further.

Greatest Credit Score Lesson

Sure when “crap” happens it can be discouraging and frustrating but it’s important to remember not a single person in history achieved greatness without also facing many hurdles and only succeeded by finding a way around… over… under… or through them.

Those who give too much power to circumstance will camp indefinitely at the hurdle before them which will ultimately be the defeat of all they have hoped and worked for.

Although you may have overcome a hundred thousand obstacles in the past if you give in to the one before you… success is in jeopardy.

It is in realizing you are responsible for your own life… your own career… your own family… your own finances… your own credit score… that you take back the power to achieve all you have ever dreamed of.

By assuming full responsibility for success or failure you stop the debilitating mentalities of blaming and making excuses and set your life in fast forward motion with no reason to slow down or look to the left or right.

Since you are choosing your own future circumstance or other life influences now longer factor in.

Today I hope you have learned the greatest credit score lesson is you are responsible for your own…

“There are two primary choices in life:
to accept conditions as they exist, or
accept the responsibility for changing them”
Denis Waitley: is an American motivational speaker and writer

Are you going to accept or change your credit score being low?

Paying high interest rates?

Keep getting declined for credit?

Missing out on the best jobs?

Turned down for a new apartment or for getting utilities hooked up?

Had enough getting kicked around yet????

You may have had some bad breaks… maybe treated unfairly… maybe ripped off and taken advantage of.

My question to you is….

What are you going to do about it?

Are the people or the situations that got you where you are (besides yourself) jumping to your rescue to help remedy the situation?

Hmmmm… somehow I doubt it.

So the choice is yours…

Accept your conditions as they are…

OR…

Accept the responsibility to change them.

Accept or Change Your Credit Score

As unfair as your current financial scenario may be the only one who can initiate and drive the change necessary to pull out ahead is yourself.

If you want to change your credit score for the better you need to realize a couple things:

1. Even if someone else… the economy… series of unfortunate events is the cause of a trashed credit score, you can’t blame any of those for it staying this way. You need to take the bull by the horns and rise above the adversity.
2. A change in outcome requires a change in attitude, thought, and action. Doing the same thing that got you a poor credit score will never result in a better one simply by waiting.
3. Time DOES NOT heal all things.. especially not a credit score. This requires work, choice and discipline.

“You are the masterpiece of your own life; you are the Michelangelo
of your experience. The David that you are sculpting is you. And you do it
with your thoughts.” — Dr. Joe Vitale: Motivational author and speaker

I realize that “chip away at the credit score stone” is a bit of a stretch for a post title but there are so many parallels I can run I just had to use it.

Michelangelo in 1501 began with a big ugly, cold, and rough block of Carrara marble… three years later he unveiled David… a timeless masterpiece.

Obviously more than just time, Michelangelo also poured in planning, dedication, vision, hard work and patience.

Without a crystal clear image in his mind of what he was sculpting do you think it would have been even remotely possible to shape something as detailed and beautiful as David?

When people talk to me of improving… or chipping away at the credit score stone, I can tell all they currently see is the “big, ugly, cold, block of rock” before them and haven’t taken the time to set their minds, thoughts and emotions on the masterpiece they are attempting to create.

In order to create a financial masterpiece in the real world you need to first create it with your thoughts…. then move the thoughts into a plan…. then begin to chip away… blow by blow of the hammer with patience and precision until the masterpiece is unveiled.

Do you know what it is you are wanting to create? Do you see it clearly in your minds eye? Can you feel the excitement in your soul required to carry you through the hard times?

Take some time to clearly define your “David”… then break it down into action steps… and with that image burned in your minds eye begin to chip away at the credit score stone.

“No great thing is created suddenly.”

Credit Score Project – Good Things Take Time

Working on your credit score project can seem like a long and arduous task and many who I speak with are going crazy having to wait.

It’s important to realize, behind your credit score number are Corporations that consist of people who are making decisions based on how you have handled credit and your finances in the past.

Your credit score isn’t some randomly generated number but is one based on history over previous years.

Going forward, in order for your credit score to increase you need to show these same people you are able to handle credit better than you have in the past.

This requires trust to be built and trust takes time.

In previous posts I have shown you other credit score tips like disputing credit report errors and adding missing positive information to your credit report but once this is all in line it really comes down to consistent financial responsibility.

To be successful in your credit score project of raising your score to where you get the best interest rates from the best lenders it is important to have an action plan for increasing your credit score and then follow that plan consistently for the rest of your life.

Once these habits and principles are set up in your daily routine it really is not even extra work anymore but rather a way of life.

The Great Wall of China, the Coliseum and the Pyramids were built with quality and the intention of longevity… they were not built in a day!

On a lesser scale but with significant importance to yourself and your family your credit score project is one that will also take time but definitely well worth the wait.

The size of obstacle says something about the size of your future on the other side.
~ John Osteen

I don’t know about you but my typical response to a large obstacle is one of…

…Holy Crap… now what?

….Oh great…

…I never seem to get a break!

I often sense the same attitude from those who come to me with their credit score obstacle stories.

You know what? I don’t blame you but the times in my life I have done great things are the times I’ve moved to a different attitude about the challenges I faced.

Yes… some things are out and out hard… no question about it. However if we realize that all the great victories in life were at one time on the other side of a difficult situation it gives us some motivation to try our best and to not give up.

See your credit score obstacle as a gift wrapped opportunity for success.

When you begin to rise to the challenge of improving your credit score by seeing what is available to you on the other side of the work, energy and effort you propel yourself in the right direction with your attitude alone.

There’s 2 ways to live life…

…Avoid challenges and try to squeak by as best you can.

…Take on challenges head on regardless of your odds of overcoming them or not.

The first approach is NOT the one that has written our history books of notable achievements.

The second approach is not only the attitude that gets things done but it also provides us the benefit of living with a sense of confidence, fulfillment, excitement, anticipation and accomplishment.

Sure, we may fail taking on obstacles bigger than ourselves but have you ever considered the option that you may NOT fail?

Take on your credit score obstacle today head-on than don’t look back on your way to financial freedom.

Most people focus on the negative errors already on their credit report and like I showed you in a recent post how to use the sample dispute credit report letter I provided to have these items removed from your credit report in order to help boost your credit score.

Well today I will talk about a lesser known technique on how to fix your credit score by adding to your credit report.

Many people don’t realize if there is positive information about their credit history that isn’t on their credit report you can request to have it added so potential creditors will see the positive information and gain a stronger sense of your financial responsibility.

Similar to the post Raising Credit Score by Fixing Credit Report Errors you begin by acquiring your free credit score.

Once you have your credit score be sure to carefully review it and make note of any loans, mortgages or financial transactions including credit where you favorably dealt with the credit but it isn’t present on your credit report.

Any item of this nature are ones you will want to gather all supporting documentation and send a letter of request to the appropriate credit bureau asking them to add this information to your credit bureau.

You can use the sample letter below as a template.

Fix Your Credit Score by Adding to Your Credit Report

Date of letter

Your full name
Your mailing address
City, state and zip code

Name of Credit Reporting Agency [Equifax, Experian or Trans Union]
CRA Address
City, state and zip code

Dear Sir or Madam:

I recently acquired a copy of my credit report and have realized there is information from my credit history missing.  The information that has been omitted I believe is critical for potential creditors to be aware of when reviewing my credit report in the future.

I have enclosed specific data I would ask you to please add to my report:

(Be sure to add detailed account information you would like included here.  Be sure to supply the company name of the creditor, account number, dates, and the contact information for the creditor)

Supply the following personal information:

Full Name
Social Security Number (SSN)
Date of Birth
Full Mailing Address and Phone Number

Please contact me if you need any more information or clarification

Sincerely,

(signature)

Enclose a recent copy of your credit report as well as any supporting documentation relating to the information you addressed in the letter.

Hopefully this little known technique will provide you with a much needed boost to your credit score.

You have nothing to lose so why not try to fix your credit score by adding to your credit report today.

“We learn more by looking for the answer to a question and not finding it than we do from learning the answer itself.”

The free credit score mystery really is no mystery at all…

Check your credit score on a regular basis and make sure there are no errors…

If there are send a credit report dispute letter and have them corrected.

Beyond that be financially responsible.

Keep your amount of extended credit ratio compared to your credit limits as low as possible.

Don’t take out new credit frequently and don’t be quick to close old accounts if they are in good standing.

Look around on my blog as is it filled with great credit score tips and tricks that are proven over time again and again and not based on some fancy scheme to trick the Credit Bureaus.

In the end you will realize the answer to the free credit score mystery is simply …. common sense!