Buying a car can improve your credit

When you are younger, you might make some stupid decisions about money. You might end up getting a few credit cards and messing up your credit. Sometimes it's not really a choice but more of a necessity to stay afloat. Maybe you were in in a bad relationship and ended up getting over your head financially and messing up your credit. Credit is so easy to mess up and so hard to repair. You might also just not really have much credit history. Credit isn’t a number that everyone starts with, you can just not have credit cards and so your credit history isn’t established.

Buying a car is a great way to build credit. It may cost you a little more in a down payment but that cannot compare to having better credit. When you buy a car, you have to usually make payments and payments on time will boost your credit. It will go on your credit report too. Make sure you are able to make your payments on time. It’s important to make sure you don’t spend more than you can afford. You don’t have to buy a brand new car, you can get a nice used car that might be more in your price range.

You can also get a secured credit card to help build or repair your credit. It's a prepaid credit card that helps you not spend more than you have on the card. High credit limits can be dangerous and tempting. You might think that it's free money and not realize that you are paying a lot more to pay for it later.  I am not sure this is really a thing anymore, but when I was in my late teens, CD subscription companies were big and I knew people who didn’t really understand how it worked. They just thought they were getting a great deal by paying only a dollar or two.

 
Try looking at your budget and eliminate things that are causing you extra. Maybe you are like me and only watch Netflix once or twice a month. You could be holding on to memberships that you aren't using. Try carpooling to work. Try to limit impulse buys, take some time to think about a purchase before you buy.  Remember the less money you spend the less you spend on your credit cards. The good news is you can repair your credit with some work and time

This post is in partnership with  http://www.patrickvolvo.com/