It’s possible to improve your credit scores by following a few simple steps, including: opening accounts that report to the credit bureaus, maintaining low balances and paying your bills on time.
Stephen Gold visits towns all over New Jersey, giving free talks on financial literacy to underserved communities. “I probably speak to over 10,000 people a year – these are people that really need help and I’m incredibly touched by the stories I hear and the letters I receive from people I’ve helped”, Stephen says.
Haunted By Bad Credit
What may come as a surprise, is that only three years ago, Stephen’s credit was so bad he couldn’t even rent an apartment and actually had to live in his car for over a month. “Yeah, I had paid some bills late and got in a little over my head with debt, but I had no idea how bad my credit score was or that I could be denied a place to live because of it. That’s when Credit Sesame came into the picture.”
“Most people are shocked to learn how much these credit companies know about you and how much influence your credit has on your life”, Stephen told us when we met with him after a recent speech he gave to young parents.
“I try to drive home the point as strongly as possible that the most important number in your life isn’t your age or even your income, it’s your credit score”.
A Shocking Revelation
Stephen is very open about his past and recounts how shocked he was to find out his score was only 540. “I didn’t even know scores went that low. I mean banks won’t even talk to you if your score is under 650”.
Credit Repair Companies Were Worse Than Useless
He recounted how he reached out to a few “credit repair” companies he found online, but they took his money (up front!) and two months later his score had gone DOWN by 10 points. “There are too many fly-by-night credit repair companies out there that are good at selling but terrible at fixing your credit”, Stephen said.
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Credit Sesame And The Big Turnaround
Then Stephen found Credit Sesame, a service that provides a credit score, credit monitoring and guidance on how to improve your score…all for FREE.
Credit Sesame did a hundred times more for me – for free – than these credit repair companies had done after charging me hundreds of dollars”, Stephen excitedly recalled.