How can I build credit without really using it?

Question

Ok, so when I was younger I got a lot of credit and did terribly with it. So I paid it all off and swore off credit forever. Now I can't buy a house cause I don't have anything on my record but all that stuff from when I was a kid and screwed up. If I get credit cards and such, do I HAVE to use them in order to improve my score? Or is just having them good enough?

Answer 1

The amount of credit available you have, plus the history of on-time payments raise your credit score. If you don't use your cards at all, the card companies can report "No information Available" for each month. You want them to say "OK-paid on time" every month on your report.

Get a credit report and you will see what I mean. Creditors report every month, affecting your score. If there is no new information, your score probably won't change.

Answer 2

Try reading this article, they list several tips on building your credit, http://www.monitorbankrates.com/how-to-b...

Answer 3

cant build credit without using it...

creditors want to see a history, so give them one

here are a few easy thing to raise your score

go to the bank

take out a personal loan...

$1000 for one year is a good start

make every monthly payment - on time

at the end of the year, your score will have raised!

get a credit card from sears, or pennys etc.. (have to use it!)

charge an item (even $25 dollars)

pay it in full when your statement comes

do this no less than 4 times (per card) in the year of the loan above

if you know a person who has had credit cards for a long time, and good history, ask them to place you on the account..their history will then be shared by you! (you can promise not to 'use' the credit card, just simply be on the account)

visit the credit card company's website

dispute or settle your past debts

these  things will raise your score by 300 points

and you will qualify for a home loan

but it take time, so be patient

ps...what indianjohn is recommending is illegal, be careful trying to "scam" credit, they have become very wise in these days of information technology and you could end up hurting your score for many years.

Answer 4

It's pretty simple to build credit.  Just use them (Don't be scared!) and stash the money away to pay for them every money.  If you have the money waiting to pay them off, then you will have absolutely no problem building credit.  

There are a number of cards you can apply for if you don't have any established credit.  

http://www.buildcreditblog.com/credit-ca...

Answer 5

You can use credit repair agency, for example this one - http://creditreport.undonet.com

They will clean lots of such old bad stuff from your credit report - and do it much faster than yourself, so your credit will go up.

Answer 6

Get a free card, use it once a month say to charge a meal or gas, then pay it in full. This will help you build a credit and payment history. Soon they will increase you credit limit and your on your way. Having a card that you never use will not help you build a history of on time payments. The avail credit vs your total credit will increase you score  a little.

Answer 7

Get a couple cards and use them for small purchases, such as gas or groceries.  Then make on time payment each month.  The key is not to utilize more than 30% of your available credit. i.e. credit limit is 1000 you should never carry a balance of more than 300$.  You need to develope a payment history to get a good score increase.  You might also consider going to your bank and taking out a personal loan for 500 or 1000$.  You will have to secure this loan with a bank cd but this is another excellent way to build up your credit score.  One more thing.  Get a free copy of your credit reports(from all three bureaus, annualcreditreport.com) and start disputing any neg marks on there with the credit bureaus.  I just did this and saw a 75 point boost in my credit score.  The neg marks were mine but a lot of times they cannot verify the information and have to remove them.  I used the method posted on this forum http://www.creditforums.org/f13/got-my-r...

Answer 8

Great advice below you need to make sure that there is no negatives still remaining on your report.  If so, try getting them off.  Now the process of rebuilding credit, you can get a secured credit card, and a secured loan and you must use it, at least for a year or so, so that they can see a payment history.  Just having credit cards don't help, if you don't use them.

Answer 9

You would have to use them to build a payment history

What I have done ,Buy something for cash but have them list you as having made payments on the item

I once bought a car for 2 thousand cash but had them say i paid $286 a month for it

I built my credit up in a few months"It helps to know the dealer"

Answer 10

You have to use your card, or get a signture loan and pay it off, that will increase it.

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