Next Step

flagday1974

Hi all,i have visited the site on a few occasions but i'm new to the forum,

I am looking for a little advise if at all possible,

I was struggling with debt for a long time and had a fairly bad credit history, i am now almost Debt free :j but was wondering what the next step was to building my credit rating back up, i have done bits along the way, ie: bills all paid on time, no defaults, mobile bills on time and extended my contract with mobile company rather than go pay as you go etc.., i am on electoral roll, no bank charges (actually managing my accounts really well )
I have had one of those credit builder cashplus cards (not sure how long for now but quite a while) - no defaults etc...
I was just wondering what was my best route was now, or any advice on bettering my credit rating etc..
Thanks all..

dell33

Sorry no advice, but wanted to say well done on being almost debt free.

Wannabefree1

I think it's just a time thing - and keep doing what you're doing.

Unless anyone has any other bright ideas???

Well done on beating the debt

dark^knight

Hi,

Firstly, as you're nearly debt free, I would advise on doing your best to not go into debt again. Obviously, if you want to buy a house and get a mortgage, then that is 'good' debt, as your investing in an asset.

Like others have said, just keep doing what you are doing.

^dk^

Cherryjack

They do say getting a card.. and spending only 30 % of a low amount..and then paying it off in full each month can help. Its leaves a good trail.. but dont do this unless you know you are going to pay it off in full each month and can put the money to one side.. thats the only think i know of.. good luck

Cynical_Monkey

Some will disagree with my method but every time I went out to buy something I could afford and had the cash for, I always took out a store card, bought the item and then went home to pay off the store card - My experian credit rating is 858 which is a massive distance away from where it was 2 years ago - back then it was 284.

I didn't buy things I wan't going to buy without the store card and always made sure I paid the debt off as quickly as possible - I started with Mothercare because they offered a 10% discount for making my purchases on a new store card - Nice little saving of £62 just after my son was born.

Another good option is to tart around with electric, gas and phone companies - Each time you switch, you settle in full and get another account you can keep in the green - This adds a lot of positive payment history to your credit file but be careful not to apply for too many things in a short space of time as this'll have an adverse effect.

Cherryjack

Cynical_Monkey wrote: »

Some will disagree with my method but every time I went out to buy something I could afford and had the cash for, I always took out a store card, bought the item and then went home to pay off the store card - My experian credit rating is 858 which is a massive distance away from where it was 2 years ago - back then it was 284.

I didn't buy things I wan't going to buy without the store card and always made sure I paid the debt off as quickly as possible - I started with Mothercare because they offered a 10% discount for making my purchases on a new store card - Nice little saving of £62 just after my son was born.

Another good option is to tart around with electric, gas and phone companies - Each time you switch, you settle in full and get another account you can keep in the green - This adds a lot of positive payment history to your credit file but be careful not to apply for too many things in a short space of time as this'll have an adverse effect.

Thats great advice on the energy switching .. had no idea, and ive just switched .. like you i think its about using a card..its like a test to see if you can pay it back

flagday1974

Hi all, thanks for the replies, what is the best way to find out what my credit score is? And how will I know I will be accepted for a store card? don't really want to apply and get rejected which will again affect my credit history.

Cynical_Monkey

flagday1974 wrote: »

Hi all, thanks for the replies, what is the best way to find out what my credit score is? And how will I know I will be accepted for a store card? don't really want to apply and get rejected which will again affect my credit history.

The most cost effective way is to sign up to experian using quidco which gives £5 cashback and lets you see your report for free - Cancel as soon as you've downloaded the pdf file of your credit report and that's it.

The other option is again through Quidco but instead, go for equifax - they don't give the actual score until you pay another £6 though although they do show your complete payment history up to and including the last 6 years.

As for the store cards, the high APR's means that very few people actually get rejected for them - As I said though, they're very dangerous if you spend on them without having the money to actually buy the product/service in the first place.

flagday1974

Hi, thanks for replies, OK, so i did the experian and it came back with a score of POOR - 656.

2 positives, 1 negative. everything satisfied..

does this mean less chance of a store card? and with that score what do you think my best options are? (i know there are other factors than the score), I am full time employed with the company for nearly 3 yrs, earn £24,k+ (not sure if that has anything to do with it).
Again, any help or advice really is appreciated. Thanks,

Cynical_Monkey

A score of 656 isn't that bad in the eyes of stores - Anything below an Experian rating of 400 is getting to the risky area where store cards might be refused.