Category Archives: Fix Your Credit Report

If you’ve ever shopped for a car, a home, or even a new credit card, you may have seen a hard inquiry appear on your credit report. If you have good credit already, this hard inquiry probably won’t bring your credit score down by more than a few points. But if you’ve shopped around for multiple auto loans, mortgage loans, personal loans, or credit cards over the last several months, you may have noticed more than one hard inquiry on your credit record.

You’ve likely heard about the importance of building credit your whole adult life. But what does this actually mean? Simply, credit is the metric that lending institutions like banks use to measure your fiscal responsibility. Because of this, the concept of credit and credit cards seem pretty inextricably linked. But still, many don’t know how to build credit without a credit card.

Whether we like it or not, credit reports are a huge indicator of how financially healthy and responsible we are. Years of crippling debt can lead to years of late payments. Unfortunately, years of late payments can damage your credit score for up to seven years, making it difficult for you to receive necessary loans, buy or rent a house, or even get that job you want.