Rome wasn’t built in a day, and neither is your credit score. Building credit is a process, and improving a poor credit score in particular can often be tedious.
This is why you might be looking for what bills help build credit.
There are lots of ways to build your credit score, and a lot of the time you can do this through your normal day-to-day life. In particular, one way that you can help build credit is through your bills.
Paying your bills on time and not falling behind on payments will help build your credit score, but some bills in particular can help build credit too.
In this guide, we’ll be taking a look at what bills can help build credit. So, if you want to find out more, keep on reading!
How Do You Build Credit?
First things first, let’s take a look at how to build credit. Your credit score is a number that is calculated by looking at your past credit history.
Every credit transaction you complete will influence your credit score, so the way to build a credit score is to be strategic in your transactions.
Your credit score looks at a number of different things.
One thing that it takes into account is available credit (so how much credit you have access to, via loans, credit cards, etc.) and your credit utilization, which is how much credit you are using out of your available credit.
In addition, it will look at your ability to repay credit on time, and late payments, defaults, etc. that you have on your record.
So there are lots of ways to build your credit. You can increase your available credit by applying for more credit, or reduce your credit utilization by paying off your borrowed money.
In addition, you can build credit through simple things like paying your bills. So, let’s take a look at what bills help pay credit.
What Bills Help Build Credit?
Now that we’ve taken a look at how to build credit, let’s take a look at what bills can help you do this.
Before we take a look at which bills can help you build credit, it is very important to acknowledge that many bills will not help you build your credit score at all. However, some can really help.
The only bills that will help build your credit score are bills that are reported to credit bureaus.
These mainly include bills attached to credit agreements and include car finance payments, mortgage payments, student loan payments, and credit card repayments.
Each time you pay off these bills, they will repay the money you owe and reduce your credit utilization.
So the credit bureaus will be aware of these payments, and you will be actively contributing to improving your credit report.
The benefit these will have on your credit report is even greater if you ensure that you make these repayments on time. So, it is definitely worth keeping on top of these payments.
Bills That Often Aren’t Included In Credit Reports
However, as you can see, the bills that can help build your credit score are actually few and far between.
Only a handful of bills are included in your credit report, so, unfortunately, the other bills you pay will not greatly impact your credit score.
While your other bills cannot help increase your credit report, they can help prevent your credit score from deteriorating. A big part of your credit score is your ability to pay money that you owe on time.
So, paying bills that are on a monthly basis on time and in full is a great way to help protect your credit score.
Falling behind on monthly payments can cause companies to register defaults on your credit report if you fail to pay on time, or do not pay your bills over an extended period.
So ensuring that you are on time with payments and that you do not forget about any bills will not necessarily bill your credit, but it will help protect your score. This is why keeping on top of your payments is very important.
Other Ways To Build Credit
Thankfully, there are lots of ways to build your credit and improve your credit score. Credit scores are essentially there to give an accurate representation of your creditworthiness.
So, if you are late making payments, have multiple defaults on your credit report, or are swimming in debt, you will have a poor credit score.
If you want your credit score to improve, you need to demonstrate that you can use credit healthily.
This doesn’t mean not using credit. In fact, not utilizing credit can lead to a poor credit score as bureaus have no data on your creditworthiness.
Instead, it means using credit in strategic ways and keeping on top of payments.
If you are looking for an instant fix, then increasing your available credit by opening new accounts is a good way to improve your score.
If you are looking to improve your credit score in the long-run, then things such as paying off loans and closing credit accounts will improve your score.
In the immediate future, these actions will cause your score to drop. But after a month or two, your credit score will bounce back, stronger than it was before.
There are tons of ways to build your credit score. But if you have mortgages, car financing, or credit cards to repay, these bills can help build your credit score.
Summary
There are lots of ways to help build your credit score, and paying certain bills on time is one way of doing this. Bills including mortgages, car finance payments, credit card payments, and student loan payments can help build your credit score.
Thanks for reading!
