• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
Cult Of Money

Cult Of Money

Intersection Of Personal Finance And Cryptocurrency

  • About
  • Podcast
  • Contact
  • Cryptocurrency
      • How To Start

      • What Is Cryptocurrency And How To Invest?
      • What Is Bitcoin And How Can You Invest In 2025?
      • How To Invest In Ethereum (ETH)?
      • Most Common Crypto And NFT Scams (And How To Avoid Them)
      • Proof Of Work vs. Proof Of Stake vs. Proof Of History
      • How To Invest In Crypto In Your IRA Or 401k
      • Tools + Resources

      • Best Cryptocurrency Exchanges
      • Best Cryptocurrency Wallets
      • Best Crypto Savings Accounts
      • Best Tax Software For Crypto And NFT Traders
      • Reviews

      • Coinbase Review
      • Gemini Review
      • Binance Review
      • Ledger Wallet Review
  • DeFi
      • How To Start

      • What Is DeFi?
      • What Is Staking Your Crypto?
      • Centralized vs. Decentralized Exchange
      • Tools + Resources

      • Uniswap Review And How Do Decentralized Exchanges Work?
      • Reviews

  • NFT
      • How To Start

      • What Is An NFT?
      • Tools + Resources

      • Most Popular Play-To-Earn Crypto Games
      • Popular Projects

      • What Are VeeFriends And Are They Worth It?
      • Bored Ape Yacht Club NFTs Are Popular (And Expensive)
      • What Is The Sandbox And How Can You Play?
      • Why Visa Bought A CryptoPunk
  • Latest News
  • Personal Finance
      • Banking

      • Investing

      • Tax

      • Income Tax Prep Guide
      • Bookkeeping And Accounting For Crypto And NFTs
Credit

How to Improve Your Credit in 2017

By Alexa Mason • December 6, 2016

At The Cult of Money, we want to help you navigate your finances. To do this, many or all of the products featured here may be from our partners who compensate us. This doesn’t influence our evaluations or reviews. Our opinions are our own. Any investing information provided on this page is for educational purposes only. We do not offer investment advisor or brokerage services, nor does it recommend buying or selling particular stocks, securities, or other investments. Investing in cryptocurrency and crypto assets is high risk. Don’t invest unless you’re prepared to lose all the money you invest. Learn more here.Advertiser Disclosure

There are thousands of financial products and services out there, and we believe in helping you understand which is best for you, how it works, and will it actually help you achieve your financial goals. We're proud of our content and guidance, and the information we provide is objective, independent, and free.

But we do have to make money to pay our team and keep this website running! Our partners compensate us. CultOfMoney.com has an advertising relationship with some or all of the offers included on this page, which may impact how, where, and in what order products and services may appear. The Cult of Money does not include all companies or offers available in the marketplace. And our partners can never pay us to guarantee favorable reviews (or even pay for a review of their product to begin with).

For more information and a complete list of our advertising partners, please check out our full Advertising Disclosure. CultOfMoney.com strives to keep its information accurate and up to date. The information in our reviews could be different from what you find when visiting a financial institution, service provider or a specific product's website. All products and services are presented without warranty.

Are you setting big financial goals for the New Year? If so, here's what you should know to improve your credit in 2017 and beyond.With the New Year ahead many ambitious goals will be set. If one of your goals is to straighten out your finances, improving your credit score might be on your list.

Improving your credit score is a great idea since it can affect your insurance rates, housing opportunities and ability to take on a mortgage. While a higher credit score won’t happen instantly there are a few simple things you can do to see big improvements through the course of the year.

Here’s how to improve your credit in 2017 and beyond.

Know How Your Score is Calculated

In order to improve your credit it’s helpful to first know how your score is calculated.

The three credit bureaus use information from your credit report and calculate your score based on these metrics:

  • Payment History 35%
  • Amount Owed 30%
  • Length of History 15%
  • New Credit 10%
  • Type of Credit 10%

You can get your credit reports for free, once per year from each of the major credit bureaus. Simply visit AnnualCreditReport.com to access those. You can track improvements in your credit score through a service like Credit Karma or Credit Sesame. However, it’s important to note that these service don’t give you your actual FICO score.

To get your FICO score you’ll need to pay for it at one of the major credit bureaus, Experian, Equifax or Transunion.

Always Pay Your Bills On Time

Your payment history is the biggest factor in determining your credit score. This means if you’ve missed payments or paid your bills late your credit score has taken a ding or two.

While you can’t immediately fix this you can make significant progress by always paying your bills on time. Even if you can only cover the minimum payment you need to make sure it gets where it needs to be by the due date.

To prevent missed or late payments set up all of your credit accounts to have the minimum payments automatically drafted from your checking account. You can always send in extra payments on the accounts at any time.

Pay Down Your Debt

The second largest component in your credit score is the amount you owe, or your debt to credit utilization ratio. This means the credit bureaus look at how much debt you have compared to how much credit is available to you.

To figure out your debt to credit ratio you simply divide your debt by your available credit. For instance if you have one credit card that has a $3,000 balance and a $4,500 credit limit your debt to credit ratio would be 67%.

According to FICO an ideal debt to credit ratio is below 30%. If your number is currently higher you need to work on paying down your debt until you get below the 30% mark. (I personally don’t like to be higher than 15%.)

Paying down your debt can positively impact your credit score fairly quickly.

Paying down debt will require you to cut back your spending, increase your income or both. Make a plan now on how you’ll tackle your debt in 2017.

Don’t Open Any New Credit Accounts

While you’re working on improving your credit score you should not open any new credit accounts unless absolutely necessary. Applying for new lines of credit can have an adverse effect on your credit score.

Instead, work on improving your credit so that when the time comes that you need to buy a house or take on debt for any other major purchase you’re in a good position.

Also, this should go without saying but DO NOT rack up anymore debt on the credit accounts you already have. You should focus on eliminating debt and avoiding taking on anymore.

Don’t Cancel Old Credit Card Accounts

The length of your credit history accounts for 15% of your score. That means the credit card accounts you’ve had opened the longest are the biggest influence on this calculation. If you close those accounts this portion of your credit score could be negatively impacted.

Stay Consistent and Be Patient

You’ll find many articles claiming that you can raise your credit score by 300 points in six months. But remember, what sounds too good to be true is usually too good to be true. Instead of looking for that next method that will get you there fast do what makes sense.

If you have a lot of debt paying it down, refraining from opening new accounts and consistently paying all of your bills on time will raise your credit score.

Do you plan on working on your credit this coming year?

Alexa Mason
Alexa Mason

Alexa Mason is a freelance writer and wanna be internet entrepreneur. She is also a newly single mom to two beautiful little girls. She chronicles her journey as a single mom trying to make it big at www.singlemomsincome.com.

1 shares
  • Share
  • Tweet
  • Email
  • Print

Editorial Disclaimer: Opinions expressed here are author’s alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, airlines or hotel chain, or other advertiser and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities.

Comment Policy: We invite readers to respond with questions or comments. Comments may be held for moderation and are subject to approval. Comments are solely the opinions of their authors’. The responses in the comments below are not provided or commissioned by any advertiser. Responses have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any company. It is not anyone’s responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.

Primary Sidebar

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter

Editor’s Picks

  • 8 best cryptocurrency exchanges ranked | Source: Cult of Money

    8 Best Cryptocurrency Exchanges Ranked For 2025

  • crypto savings accounts

    5 Best Crypto Savings Accounts For 2025

  • Cryptocurrency Bonus Offers

    8 Best Crypto Promotional And Bonus Offers

  • best crypto wallets | Source: Cult of Money

    Best Crypto Wallets For 2025 (Software And Hardware Options)

  • Best Portfolio Trackers For Cryptocurrency And Stocks

    Best Portfolio Trackers For Cryptocurrency And Stocks

  • best tax software for crypto and NFT traders | Source: Cult of Money

    Best Tax Software For Crypto And NFT Traders In 2025

Popular Posts

  • proof of work vs. proof of stake vs. proof of history

    Proof Of Work vs. Proof Of Stake vs. Proof Of History

  • Why I Bought An NFT

    Why I Bought An NFT [And 5 Reasons You Should Too]

  • Dogecoin Experiment | Source: Cult of Money

    My Dogecoin Experiment: What I Learned From Investing $2,000 In DOGE

  • common crypto and nft scams

    Most Common Crypto And NFT Scams (And How To Avoid Them)

  • Bookkeeping and Accounting for Crypto and NFTs

    Bookkeeping And Accounting For Crypto And NFTs

  • what is a 51% attack

    What Is A 51% Attack? (And How Is That Game Over For Crypto?)

  • what is staking crypto

    What Is Staking And How Can You Make Money With Your Crypto?

  • what are veefriends

    What Are VeeFriends And Are They Worth It?

  • how to file a complaint against crypto exchanges

    How To File A Complaint Against A Crypto Exchange [Crypto Regulators]

Footer

Pages

  • Best Cryptocurrency Wallets
  • Best Cryptocurrency Exchanges

Categories

  • Cryptocurrency
  • DeFi
  • NFT
  • Personal Finance

About

  • About The Cult Of Money
  • Contact
  • How We Make Money
  • Advertise With Us
  • Bluesky
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Mastodon
  • Pinterest
  • Reddit
  • RSS
  • Threads
  • TikTok
  • Twitter

Copyright © 2025 | Cult of Money | Privacy Policy | Terms of Service

1 shares