Want a credit score that doesn’t embarrass your grandma? Here’s how to build credit faster than your WiFi crashes on Zoom. Scroll if you dare.
Welcome to Credit Score Olympics Lose Friends, Win Points
Look, building credit in the USA is like mastering sourdough during lockdown sounds simple, but mostly ends in tears and regret. Are you 18 to 35, clutching your oat latte and wondering if “Finance” will ever mean anything except panic? Well, congrats, kid: The system was not designed for you, but you’re stuck with it anyway. Somehow, your credit score controls your entire adult existence not just loans and apartments, but also whether your insurance premium is higher than your Starbucks order total. So, put down the phone, close the DoorDash app, and let’s figure out how to build credit fast ish. No, you can’t just Venmo Equifax.
Step 1: Apply for a Secured Credit Card. What’s That, You Ask? It’s Like Training Wheels for Adulthood.
Ever been so trusted with someone’s money that they made you give a deposit just to use it? Welcome to the magic of the secured credit card. You hand over $200 as collateral (goodbye, Chipotle budget), get a fake-looking plastic card and spend responsibly at least, in theory. Pay the bill on time, underutilize that limit, and boom!
You’re “building credit.” After a few months of not setting your credit card on fire, you might actually qualify for a real grown-up card. Yes, Finance happens here.
● Good for folks whose credit score is currently “LOL”
● Your usage gets reported to the Big Three bureaus: Experian, TransUnion, Equifax (no, not Hogwarts houses)
● Eventually, you get your deposit back unless you forget about it and let the card die in your sock drawer.
Side comment: “Secured” does not mean emotionally secure, but you’ll get credit where credit’s due.
Step 2: The Authorized User Move Credit by Association and Parental Bribery
Don’t have decent credit? Time to mooch off someone who does. By becoming an authorized user on a parent’s or a friend’s card, you inherit part of their credit history like a weird family heirloom. You can spend on their account and, if they pay bills like actual responsible adults, your score shoots up faster than rent in Brooklyn. This is the closest thing to stealing clout short of actually changing your last name to Kardashian.
● No, you probably can’t choose Bill Gates as your authorized owner.
● If your parent/friend has a trash credit record: Run. Don’t walk.
● Finance : If the issuer doesn’t report authorized users, you’re just a glorified card carrying bystander.
Side comment: Try not to max out their card on concert tickets. That’s called “fraud.”
Step 3: Bank Account? Sure. But Now Get Nerdy With Credit Builder Loans, Store Cards, and Rent Reporting
Did you know your rent yes, that crushing monthly expense can sometimes help your credit? If you set up rent payments with reporting bureaus, your landlord will send your record to Experian RentBureau. It’s paperwork hell, but it’s the kind of hack that makes your credit seem more “active adult” than “reluctant teenager.”
Credit builder loans are another “I hate this, but fine” tool. You essentially borrow from yourself (the U.S. equivalent of buying gifts for a dog you don’t have), make on time payments, and have your glowing payment history sent to the bureaus. A store card is also a shortcut prefer Target or Amazon over sketchy mall brands unless your soul craves chaos.
● Credit builder loans: Forced savings plus Finance (what a combo)
● Store cards: Use for stuff you’d buy anyway. Please don’t go wild and open 10 in a week.
● Rent reporting: Telling your landlord you want them to “spy on you for the greater good, not just for maintenance issues”
Step 4: The Golden Rules Pay on Time, Keep Balances Low, and Actually Look at Your Credit Report
This is not the part where you “manifest” better credit. You have to check your credit report. Seriously, errors in reporting are more common than “I’ll start exercising next week.” Pull your free credit report, fix any mistakes, and be relentless about it. Next, pay every bill on time yes, even the ones you regret signing up for. Keeping your balances low (preferably under 10% of your limit) is the humble brag the bureaus love.
● Set up auto-pay, reminders, or just tape the due dates to your fridge, next to your rejection letters
● Don’t close paid off accounts (old accounts = high score potential)
● Don’t apply for five new cards this week; please, for everyone’s sanity
Finance hack: If you’re late, get caught up ASAP. The system forgives recent behavior more than old mistakes but only if you grovel (financially at least).
Side comment: Paying off debt does more for your score than endlessly transferring balances, which is basically financial musical chairs.
Step 5: Mix Things Up Responsibly. Credit Is Fickle Like Your Last Bumble Match
The bureaus apparently want you to have a “variety” of accounts installment loans, credit cards, car loans. Because why just have anxiety about one kind of debt when you can have three? If you’ve got student loans, a car payment or a mortgage, congrats, you qualify for “credit mix.” Just avoid going full Wall Street and opening seven lines at once.
● Keep old accounts open: History is cool when it’s credit, not bad haircuts.
● Don’t chase new credit for the novelty. The score will not rise just because “new is better.”
● Finance : Lenders love seeing you handle more than one type of payment without combusting.
Side comment: Too much new credit = “Oops, did you just apply for seven lines of credit at midnight?”
Rhetorical Question Intermission Wait, Should I Use a Credit Repair Service or Just Cry Into My Avocado Toast?
Credit repair companies might promise instant miracles but, spoiler, “quick fixes” usually mean someone else gets your money or your social security number. Best bet? DIY it like it’s Sunday brunch. If your score’s tanked, use free monitoring apps, pay on time, review reports and let Finance do its slow, passive aggressive magic.
That’s It! Congrats on Choosing Adulthood Over TikTok Fame
You made it to the end. Maybe you even learned something. Now go forth, build credit, and achieve the kind of adulting that makes your younger siblings roll their eyes at Thanksgiving. Will your score reach mythical heights in six weeks? Eh not unless your blood type is “O positive for finance.” But you’ve started. And for that, as your caffeine loaded guide, I’m barely proud. Go swipe, responsibly your future landlord will thank you in passive aggressive silence.
Discover more from ADIWASHISTAR
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
