How I Instantly Improved My FICO Score!

Yes, I improved my FICO score

I made one large Mistake and my credit score was blown upside down. I just improved my credit score by 5 points and what I did might be useful to you.

Note: We wrote this sponsored article for Experian®. This means we received compensation for writing this article, at no cost to you if you purchase items through these links. We only recommend products that we use or that we have thoroughly reviewed and would recommend to our mothers.

I missed a credit card payment

Last summer we took a few trips and were away from home for over six weeks. While we enjoyed new cities and fresh beaches, we forgot some of our responsibilities back home. That’s what traveling is for, right? I mean, who thinks about their mail while looking out at the Mediterranean?

Well, I didn’t, and I’m paying the price.

I forgot to make a credit card payment. I know! A debt-free man not only forgets to make a credit card payment, but then also ends up with an overdue credit card balance. Don’t worry – we’re caught up now.

What has suffered since then is my credit score. I’ve always had good credit, at times over 800. Since we both started working full-time for Debt Free Guys, sold our condo, rented an apartment, and traveled around the world for two years, our credit scores have fluctuated.

But that missed payment brought my credit score down from 807 to 718. Ouch!

My FICO® score is still “Good,” so that’s cool. We don’t know exactly what our future holds. That’s why I want to get my credit score back into the “excellent” range as quickly as possible because a good to excellent credit score could save me tens of thousands of dollars over the course of my life.

(I don’t know about you, but I’d rather spend tens of thousands of dollars on travel or retirement than transfer them to a bank for interest or fees.)

So what should I do? One of the first steps I take is to use Experian Boost™.

How Experian Boost Improved My FICO® Score

I wanted help – fast! So I reached out to our good friends at Experian. Many of you know that we have worked with Experian several times, including them LGBTQ Money Survey last year.

You see, Experian recently launched Experian Boost™. Boost improved my FICO® score and can help you.

What is Boost? Boost is Experian’s new feature that allows you to link your utility and phone bills to the credit file, which is probably not the case right now. As you may know, up to 35% of credit scores are based on payment history. So if you’re able to pay these bills on time and in full, Experian Boost could significantly improve your credit score. Until Boost came out, it wasn’t possible to include your payment history for things like your water, electricity, and phone bills.

Experian Boost is also super fast. Once you connect Boost to the account or accounts from which you pay your bills and then review the bills you want to link to your credit file, you will receive your results almost immediately. The best part is that your FICO® Score is updated instantly and you can see the results immediately.

What you should know about Experian Boost

YesResults vary, but many people see their FICO® score increase. And that’s exactly what I wanted! Actually, per Experian“5 to 15% of consumers move into a better FICO® category, depending on what credit tier they started in.”

It’s important to note that you can’t hurt your credit score with Boost from Experian because if you don’t like your scores, you can disconnect your account from Boost at any time.

Oh, and if you’re trying to improve your credit score – because you’re just starting out with this whole growing up thing – Boost is a great place to start.

Experian Boost is free with registration, so you have nothing to lose by giving it a try. Plus, you can easily get a free credit report and FICO® score when you sign up.

Experian wants to improve America’s credit rating. Join us!

What should you do?

Here are the 10 easy steps:

1. Start an Experian membership
   1. You will need to provide some information so that Experian® can verify that you are who you say you are
2. Next, you’ll see your Experian credit report and current FICO® Score and have the option to try Boost
3. If you agree, you will be asked to link your new Experian account to your bank account
4. If you agree, you will be asked to select the bank account you will use to pay your bills
5. Once you have selected your bank, enter your bank login and password
6. Once Experian accesses your bank account, you may be asked to select which account to use. Otherwise, the “Search for Boost” option will appear.
7. The scanning process takes a few minutes. A popup will then appear with your current FICO® score
8. Once scanning is complete, you will be presented with options to add your utilities and/or phone payments to your Experian credit file
9. If you agree, the selected accounts will be added to your Experian credit file and eventually…
10. You will see your Boosted FICO® Score

Note: We wrote this sponsored article for Experian®. This means we received compensation for writing this article, at no cost to you if you purchase items through these links. We only recommend products that we use or that we have thoroughly reviewed and would recommend to our mothers.