Advice on building credit

Jaymcfadyen19

Hi and thanks for clicking my link.

I am 27 years old and have made a mess of my credit.
I recently paid them all off.
I had a lot of cards and a lot of stores with credit Very studio etc.
I am trying to rebuild my credit but wanted some views/guidance on how to do so.
I currently use one credit card and my credit on PayPal for online purchases but ive been told this is a bad idea?

Can anyone help with the above?

Any advice will be gratefully appreciated.

Thanks

Jay :j

Willing2Learn

Hi Jay and welcome to the forum


Given that you have said that you 'made a mess' last time you had credit, then what has changed?

Do you now keep to a monthly budget?

Are you now debt free?

eskbanker

Guidance on (re)building credit history is shown at:

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/loans/credit-rating-credit-score/
https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/credit-cards/bad-credit-credit-cards/#what

Ben8282

Have you actually defaulted any account or missed payments etc?
If not, you have nothing to rebuild.
Can't see why using a credit card for online purchases should be a 'bad idea'. Your credit files will not show if the purchases were made online or not.

Jaymcfadyen19

Willing2Learn wrote: »

Hi Jay and welcome to the forum


Given that you have said that you 'made a mess' last time you had credit, then what has changed?

Do you now keep to a monthly budget?

Are you now debt free?

Hi,
Yes I am now debt free.
Living within my means and trying to improve my credit.

Jaymcfadyen19

Ben8282 wrote: »

Have you actually defaulted any account or missed payments etc?
If not, you have nothing to rebuild.
Can't see why using a credit card for online purchases should be a 'bad idea'. Your credit files will not show if the purchases were made online or not.

Thanks for the advice.
I had defaulted back at the time due to the amount I owed to several creditors and had missed payments.

I cleared everything with a one off loan from a family member in January.
I mainly use my credit card for food shopping until I get paid end of month etc.

DCFC79

just use the card for petrol or the weekly food shop.

onlyfoolsandparking

Have you seen your credit file OR (if yes) do you look at it regular and what does it say?


Your payment (or missed) history is a good place to start, NOT your score that is irrelevant and lenders don't see that anyway. Based on what your history shows that will give you a clear indication on what looks good or not so good, check for errors and correct any.


In order to build a good credit file you need to cover the basics, be on the electoral roll, have a low utilisation of credit available, have one or more of your credit accounts held for a long period, have a high credit limit on one or more of your cards, don't apply for new cards/loans in abundance, use one card as advised for essentials and pay off in full each month, pay more than the minimum (even if its just a £1 over) on ALL cards etc etc.


Plenty of good advice on here regarding building good credit history/files just gotta find the threads.

dresdendave

Jaymcfadyen19 wrote: »

I cleared everything with a one off loan from a family member in January.

Presumably this loan has been repaid in full as you now claim to be debt free?

Willing2Learn

Jaymcfadyen19 wrote: »

I cleared everything with a one off loan from a family member in January.
I mainly use my credit card for food shopping until I get paid end of month etc.

Are you paying the card balance in full every month?

Have you repaid the loan from your family?

The best way to use a credit card is to only spend on stuff that you have budgeted for within your normal monthly budget. Things such as groceries and travel costs. If everything is budgeted for, then you should be paying the full statement balance due each month.

Jaymcfadyen19

Thanks for the advice.

Yes I pay in full each month and only use it for food shopping petrol etc.