How to Increase Your Credit Score to 800

You may be surprised to learn that it is easier than you may think to increase your credit score to 800.

This is something that I recently accomplished. If you know my story, you know that I’ve dealt with my fair share of struggles with my credit score and therefore what it means to me to reach this level.

To be honest it’s still somewhat surreal to my husband and me. Although I get credit alerts, I don’t routinely check my credit score. It wasn’t until we were purchasing our investment property that our mortgage broker shared the news and we found out.

I had even surpassed my husband; the very person who gave me tips and guidance to improve mine.

This increase has played a huge role in our lives already. Not only did it provide us with a low-interest rate on our mortgage, but it also helped us get the lowest rate on the market when we refinanced our condo, saving us a lot of money.

There are many benefits to having a good credit score, including the opportunities and savings that come along with it.

Here are my tips on how to increase your credit score to 800.

Small reoccurring charges

Credit card companies want to know that you are responsible and trustworthy, so they look for patterns that display this. One of the best-proven methods of showcasing this is by paying your credit card in full and on time.

An easy way that my husband and I have taken advantage of this is by having a credit card that we ONLY use for subscriptions totaling about $50 per month. It’s set up for automatic payment meaning it’s never late and always paid. Putting a small amount on a credit card is a great tactic for keeping your utilization low and making sure you can pay it in full when the bill is due.

Verify payments are being reflected in your credit report

Unfortunately, not all bills we make timely payments on are reflected on our credit report. Although data has shown that positive rental history has the potential to impact credit scores, very few landlords report it.

You can ask your landlord to report your payment history to FICO Score 9 as an incentive for on-time rent payments. If your landlord isn’t willing to report your rental payment history, you should consider working with a third party such as Rock the Score, Rent Reporters, or Rental Kharma to facilitate the reporting of your payments.

Dispute errors

If there are errors in your credit report, you can dispute them and ask that they be removed. Disputing errors will not negatively impact your score however credit bureaus can decline to remove them. Many credit repair companies dispute all negatively impacting records on your credit history regardless of whether it is accurate or not in hopes of having it removed.

The Consumer Financial Protection Agency created a sample letter template to help you dispute credit report information.

The steps to disputing errors are:

1. Send a letter to the credit bureau
2. Determine if you should contact the lender as well
3. Wait up to 35 days for the credit bureau or data furnisher to investigate and respond
4. Review the results of the investigation
5. Check for updates to your credit report

Increase your credit limit

A tactic that has worked great for me is asking for a credit limit once or twice a year. Getting a credit increase can not only boost your buying power but can also lower your credit utilization.

Please note, that this is NOT an excuse or strategy to spend more. It’s also important to note that an increased request can trigger an inquiry on your account. Do not request the increase when you’ve recently requested increases elsewhere or applied for new lines of credit.

Great times to ask for a credit increase are when you’ve had a raise, are making positive progress in your credit, and when you’ve shown to have a good track record.

Become an authorized user

One of the fastest ways to boost your credit score is to inherit the credit history of a good account. You can do this by being added as an authorized user of a line of service by someone with excellent credit. Once you are added the history on that account becomes yours.

When I met my husband, I wasn’t actively using credit cards. I still only carry one credit card today. To boost my credit and provide me with additional credit my husband added me to the credit card that he was paying his monthly subscriptions on.

Something to note is that there are always risks associated with sharing credit. Both parties are assuming the risk involved. It’s also important to make sure the company reports authorized users. Most credit card issuers do, however, smaller banks and credit unions may not.

These are some of the tips that have helped me to turn my credit around. Please share any tips you have on how to increase your credit score to 800.