You’ve got big financial plans for 2023. Maybe they include buying a home or car, or getting a new travel rewards credit card to help to pay for your next trip.
There’s a key piece of these plans you may not have considered: building your credit history.
A better credit rating can expand your access to funding and make borrowing more affordable. For example, having a score of 700 versus 650 could mean getting approved for a new-car loan at 4.9 per cent interest instead of 7.25 per cent interest.
So what can you do to get your score in shape? Here are a few ways experts suggest boosting credit in the new year.
Pay off holiday debt
When holiday festivities conclude, you might be stuck with leftover debt from food, travel and gift purchases (on top of regular bills, of course).
If missed payments or large balances carry over into the new year, your credit score could suffer.
Payment history (whether you pay bills on time) and credit utilisation (the amount of credit you’re using compared with your limit) are the two biggest factors that affect your credit score.
So make a plan to pay down your holiday debt. Start by reviewing your account statements to understand exactly how much you owe and how much you can afford to budget for repayment, says Jeff Arevalo, a financial expert at GreenPath, a non-profit credit counselling agency in Michigan.
“If you’re only paying minimums, unfortunately, it’s going to take you a longer time to pay the debts. Interest rates have increased, and so paying minimums is not a recipe for success,” Mr Arevalo says.
Knowing your budget allows you to see if you’re in a position to make more than the minimum payments on your debts, he says.
Perhaps you earned an extra pay cheque in December or a holiday bonus that you can put towards debt.
One strategy to consider is paying above the minimum on your most recently opened accounts first, says Todd Christensen, education manager at Money Fit, a non-profit debt relief service in Idaho.
“Paying down balances on new accounts will help build credit faster than paying down the balance on all accounts,” Mr Christensen says.
Protect your credit score by setting up automatic payments or payment reminders to help you pay bills on time going forward.
Don’t apply for credit too often
Applying for new credit several times in a short period can raise a red flag and negatively impact your score. With each application, you’ll get a hard inquiry on your credit that may cause your score to drop a few points.
“If I’m applying for a credit card once or twice a month, that’s kind of showing the credit scoring model that I’m desperate,” says Kate Mielitz, an accredited financial counsellor in Washington. “Desperation is not a good look in credit.”
If I’m applying for a credit card once or twice a month, that’s kind of showing the credit scoring model that I’m desperate
Kate Mielitz,
financial counsellor
Lenders that view you as a risk may reject your application or offer less desirable terms, such as high interest rates.
Think carefully before applying, especially if you plan to make a decision involving credit — like applying for a mortgage — within the next few months.
Raise your credit limit
Ask issuers to increase your credit limits on existing accounts. Higher limits will lower your utilisation, as long as your spending doesn’t creep up.
To build your score, experts recommend keeping your utilisation under 30 per cent of your limit.
Inspect your credit reports
Credit reports are records of your credit history. Staying on top of your reports is crucial because scoring companies use the information on them to create your scores.
If a mistake on a report is dragging your score down, such as a reported late payment that you actually paid on time, take quick action to dispute the error with the pertinent credit bureau.
“Some people worry that the report is kind of long, there’s a lot of abbreviations and things like that. But like with anything in life, I think it’s not as intimidating once you kind of get used to it,” Mr Arevalo says.
Make checking your credit reports a regular habit.
WORLD'S%2010%20HIGHEST%20MOUNTAINS
%3Cp%3E1.%09Everest%0D%3Cbr%3E2.%09K2%0D%3Cbr%3E3.%09Kangchenjunga%0D%3Cbr%3E4.%09Lhotse%0D%3Cbr%3E5.%09Makalu%0D%3Cbr%3E6.%09Cho%20Oyu%0D%3Cbr%3E7.%09Dhaulagiri%0D%3Cbr%3E8.%09Manaslu%0D%3Cbr%3E9.%09Nanga%20Parbat%0D%3Cbr%3E10.%09Annapurna%0D%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 261hp at 5,500rpm
Torque: 405Nm at 1,750-3,500rpm
Transmission: 9-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 6.9L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh117,059
Top tips to avoid cyber fraud
Microsoft’s ‘hacker-in-chief’ David Weston, creator of the tech company’s Windows Red Team, advises simple steps to help people avoid falling victim to cyber fraud:
1. Always get the latest operating system on your smartphone or desktop, as it will have the latest innovations. An outdated OS can erode away all investments made in securing your device or system.
2. After installing the latest OS version, keep it patched; this means repairing system vulnerabilities which are discovered after the infrastructure components are released in the market. The vast majority of attacks are based on out of date components – there are missing patches.
3. Multi-factor authentication is required. Move away from passwords as fast as possible, particularly for anything financial. Cybercriminals are targeting money through compromising the users’ identity – his username and password. So, get on the next level of security using fingertips or facial recognition.
4. Move your personal as well as professional data to the cloud, which has advanced threat detection mechanisms and analytics to spot any attempt. Even if you are hit by some ransomware, the chances of restoring the stolen data are higher because everything is backed up.
5. Make the right hardware selection and always refresh it. We are in a time where a number of security improvement processes are reliant on new processors and chip sets that come with embedded security features. Buy a new personal computer with a trusted computing module that has fingerprint or biometric cameras as additional measures of protection.
THE BIO
Occupation: Specialised chief medical laboratory technologist
Age: 78
Favourite destination: Always Al Ain “Dar Al Zain”
Hobbies: his work - “ the thing which I am most passionate for and which occupied all my time in the morning and evening from 1963 to 2019”
Other hobbies: football
Favorite football club: Al Ain Sports Club
Two products to make at home
Toilet cleaner
1 cup baking soda
1 cup castile soap
10-20 drops of lemon essential oil (or another oil of your choice)
Method:
1. Mix the baking soda and castile soap until you get a nice consistency.
2. Add the essential oil to the mix.
Air Freshener
100ml water
5 drops of the essential oil of your choice (note: lavender is a nice one for this)
Method:
1. Add water and oil to spray bottle to store.
2. Shake well before use.
Coffee: black death or elixir of life?
It is among the greatest health debates of our time; splashed across newspapers with contradicting headlines - is coffee good for you or not?
Depending on what you read, it is either a cancer-causing, sleep-depriving, stomach ulcer-inducing black death or the secret to long life, cutting the chance of stroke, diabetes and cancer.
The latest research - a study of 8,412 people across the UK who each underwent an MRI heart scan - is intended to put to bed (caffeine allowing) conflicting reports of the pros and cons of consumption.
The study, funded by the British Heart Foundation, contradicted previous findings that it stiffens arteries, putting pressure on the heart and increasing the likelihood of a heart attack or stroke, leading to warnings to cut down.
Numerous studies have recognised the benefits of coffee in cutting oral and esophageal cancer, the risk of a stroke and cirrhosis of the liver.
The benefits are often linked to biologically active compounds including caffeine, flavonoids, lignans, and other polyphenols, which benefit the body. These and othetr coffee compounds regulate genes involved in DNA repair, have anti-inflammatory properties and are associated with lower risk of insulin resistance, which is linked to type-2 diabetes.
But as doctors warn, too much of anything is inadvisable. The British Heart Foundation found the heaviest coffee drinkers in the study were most likely to be men who smoked and drank alcohol regularly.
Excessive amounts of coffee also unsettle the stomach causing or contributing to stomach ulcers. It also stains the teeth over time, hampers absorption of minerals and vitamins like zinc and iron.
It also raises blood pressure, which is largely problematic for people with existing conditions.
So the heaviest drinkers of the black stuff - some in the study had up to 25 cups per day - may want to rein it in.
Rory Reynolds
