How bad your finances are is, at least partially, a matter of perspective. Sure, you don’t have any money left at the end of the month to put into savings. If you are so optimistic that you transfer a percentage of your paycheck into savings every payday, then you end up transferring it back into checking and spending it before the pay period ends. Some people might get bummed out about this scenario, but not you, because you manage to make payments on your debts each month.

Pessimists would argue that this is not a reason to rejoice, because you are paying more interest over time than people who can afford more than the minimum payment; some months, you barely make a dent in the principal balance, so you are doing the financial equivalent of treading water. At least you can console yourself with the knowledge that your credit score gets slightly better with each installment payment.  What’s that you say? You are so far down the financial food chain that, when you pay your bills, the creditors do not even report it to the credit reporting bureaus? Welcome to the 99%.

A few strategies can help you improve your credit score without getting the windfall everyone is hoping for, but few of us ever get. For help boosting your credit score when you have limited resources, contact an Oakland lawsuits, collections, and creditor harassment lawyer.

Bad News for People Who Pay All Their Bills on Time

Your credit score is the result of a complex mathematical formula with several factors that change every billing cycle. One of them has to do with installment payments on loans and lines of credit, including credit cards. Every time you borrow a new loan or your credit card balance increases, your credit score gets lower, and when you make a payment, it gets higher. If you miss a payment, this reduces your credit score even more.

Of course, credit cards and loans are for the creditworthy. What about the rest of us who just pay rent, utilities, and communications bills and pay them on time? Unfortunately, our landlords and the corporate overlords who collect payment on our bills simply take our money and don’t breathe a word about it to the credit reporting bureaus. If we pay late, though, they scream bloody murder, and it shows up on our credit reports immediately. To add insult to injury, we can only borrow through buy now, pay later (BNPL), which interacts similarly with credit reporting bureaus.

Your best hope, as a short-term strategy, is to get a rent-reporting app if your landlord does not already use one. This way, the credit reporting bureaus will give you credit for paying your rent on time. Likewise, you can start building your credit by getting a secured credit card, which will become unsecured after about a year of on-time payments.

Contact the Law Office of Melanie Tavare About Pulling Your Credit Score Up by its Bootstraps

A debt relief lawyer can help you if you are trying to build your credit despite having no credit history.  Contact the Law Office of Melanie Tavare in Oakland, California, or call (510)255-4646 for a case evaluation.