Personal Finance & Money Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for people who want to be financially literate. It only takes a minute to sign up.
Sign up to join this community
I still live at home and thus I don't pay any rent or bills directly. I give a small chunk to my parents but this is somewhat irregular.
I am employed, so a lot of my income goes straight into pension, savings etc...
My monthly expenses are only about £400.
Apart from using a credit card on everyday purchases and promptly paying off the outstanding balance, what other activities will contribute positively to my credit score?
For those who are looking to improve credit for the sake of being able to obtain future credit on better terms, I think a rewards credit card is the best way to do that.
I recommend that you only use as many cards as you need to gain the best rewards. I have one card that gives 6% back on grocery purchases, and I have another card that gives 4% back on [petrol] and 2% back on dining out. Both of those cards give only 1% back on all other purchases, so I use a third card that gives 1.5% back across the board for my other purchases. I pay all of the cards in full each month. If there was a card that didn't give me an advantage in making my purchases, I wouldn't own it. I'm generally frugal, so I know that there is no psychological disadvantage to paying with a card. You have to consider your own spending discipline when deciding whether paying with cards is an advantage for you.
In the end, you should only use debt when you can pay low interest rates (or as in the case of the cards above, no interest at all). In the case of the low interest debt, it should be allowing you to make an investment that will pay you more by having it sooner than the cost of interest. You might need a car to get to work, but you probably don't need a new car. Borrow as little as you can and repay your loans as quickly as you can. Debt can be a tool for your advantage, but only if used wisely. Don't be lured in by the temptation of something new and shiny now that you can pay for later.
So you work, and give a small irregular amount to you parents. You live with very low expenses. Assuming you make a bit below the average salary in the UK, you should be able to save around £1000. If you found a part time job could you save double? I bet you could.
So why do you need credit? Why do you need a credit score?
Having poor or no credit can be remedied by having a large down payment. Essentially the bank asks, if this person could afford the payment of this loan why have they not been saving the money? You could save the money and either buy the thing(s) you desire with cash (the smartest), or put 50% down. Putting 50% or more down turns you into a good credit risk despite having no credit history.
In case you missed it: why not just save the money and buy it for cash? Why have compounding interest working against you? Why do you want to work for the bank?
Making the interest payments on loans in order to build a credit score is just silly. It is an instance of a "tail wagging the dog".
Any kind of credit contract such as a mobile phone contract (could be SIM only or with a handset) would also help increase your number of accounts and demonstrate a track record of responsible management and repayments. If you have a Pay As You Go phone at present consider a SIM only contract with the same network, and if your parents currently pay for your phone consider if it would be worth switching it into your own name.
Also make sure that you are registered on the Electoral Role at your permanent address and have at least a minimum payment direct debit set up on your credit card (even though you state you intend to repay in full) to make sure you don't forget a payment as this will disproportionately affect your score when combined with young age and few other accounts.
Lastly ensure that you have a decent amount of "head room" on your rolling credit accounts like credit cards and aren't using more than 80% of the credit available to you through your monthly spending, if necessary by asking for an increased limit from your company (and then not using it).
One of the other things you could do to improve your score would be along the lines of what Pete said in his answer, but using the current financial climate to your advantage.
I'm not sure what interest rates are available to you in the UK, but I currently have 4 lines of credit aside from my house. One is a credit card I use for every day purchases and like you pay off immediately with every statement.
The other three are technically credit cards, however all three were used to make purchases with 0% financing. The one was for a TV I bought that even gave me 5% off if I pay it off within 6 months. That cash has been sitting in my savings since the day I bought it.
I'm making regular payments on all three, but not having to pay any interest. My credit score dropped 25 points with the one as it was an elective medical expense (Visian eye surgery), so for the time the balance is near my credit limit. However, that will bounce back up as the balance lowers. My score was also able to take that hit and still be very high.
If you don't have 0% (or very close) available, your better bet would be to follow the other suggestions about saving for a sizable down payment, or other every day expenses like a cell phone.
You can improve your credit score simply by being an authorized user on someone's credit card account. They don't even physically have to give you a card to use, they can just add you to the account as an authorized user and your credit score will be affected. Be forewarned though, it can be negatively impacted as well. Only participate in such a scheme if it's with someone trustworthy and reliable.
When you say "promptly paying off the outstanding balance", do you mean you pay it off literally as soon as you have incurred the debt? It is important to actually let the debt post on a statement before you pay it off. If you pay it off before the statement posts then this won't help your credit at all. Once the statement posts you can pay the entire balance off before the due date and you will still pay no interest.
Assuming you are allowing the balance to actually post on your statements, you can simply continue to do this and your credit score will improve over time as your account(s) get older and you show that you are reliable.
The only other way to improve your credit score is to open more accounts. In the short term this will actually hurt your score, as it will decrease your average age of account and add an inquiry. However in the mid-long term, this will improve your score as having more accounts of a variety of types is better for your score.
Having an installment loan such as an auto loan or home loan is good for your score as it is different from a credit card - however you should definitely not engage in one of these unless it makes financial sense for other reasons. Don't add debt just to build your credit score.
You could just open more credit cards. Like I said it will hurt your score in the short term but improve it in the mid-long term. Open cards with a variety of benefits so you can use them for different things to get better rewards.
US based so I don't know how closely this translates to the UK, but generally speaking there are three things that contribute to a strong credit score.
Length/volume of credit history.
This is a combination of how many accounts appear in your history along with how long they have been open. Having a series of accounts that were maintained in good standing looks better than only having one. Maintaining an account in good standing for a prolonged period (3+ years) is better than a bunch of short term items. "Ideally" your credit history should contain a mix of term loans that were paid per contract and a few (1?) revolving account that shows ongoing use. The goal is to show that you can handle ongoing obligations responsibly, and manage multiple things at the same time.
Utilization.
Or how much you currently owe vs how much people have agreed to lend you. Being close to your limits raises questions about whether or not you can really handle the additional debt. Having large availability raises questions about whether you would be able to handle it if you suddenly maxed things out. Finding the correct middle point can be challenging, the numbers I have seen thrown around most by the "experts" is 20-30% utilization.
Recent Activity.
Or how much new debt have you taken on? If someone is opening lots of new accounts it raises red flags. Shopping around for a deal on a auto loan or mortgage before settling on one is fine. Opening 5 new credit lines in the past 6 months, probably going to knock you down a bit. One of the concerns here is have you had the accounts long enough to demonstrate that you will be able to handle them in the long term.
One route that was suggested to me in my early years was to go take out a 6mo loan from a bank, and just place the money in a CD while I made the payments. Then repeat with a longer term. Worst case, you can cash out the CD to pay off the loan in an emergency, but otherwise it helps show the type of history they are looking for.
All that said, I have to agree with Pete B's answer. Don't play the credit game if you don't really need to. Or play it just enough to stay in the game and plan your finances to avoid relying on it. (Advice I wish I had taken long ago.)
If credit scoring works in the UK like it does in the US, then I think the fact that you own+use a credit card and pay off your everyday expenses will give you perfectly good credit. Just keep doing what you're doing.
I have seen people in the United States with very high credit scores based solely upon owning & occasionally using a credit card, paid in full and on time every month.
An activity which can help improve your credit score and actually make you money is stoozing. It's a little complicated but can be beneficial to do.
Using either a credit card which allows fee free money withdrawals from cashpoints or building up debt using your credit card gives you access to your credit amount.
You then use a long term 0% balance transfer card to transfer the debt which you pay off at the minimum rate. It's 0% so no costs are associated except for the initial fee paid for the balance transfer amount. The money that would have been used to pay off the credit amount (or money withdrawn from a cashpoint) can then be deposited in a savings account so you are now earning interest on the credit balance.
Continuing to make monthly minimum payments via direct debit will help improve your credit rating and the savings money will earn interest. (it is also available if you suddenly need to pay off the 0% card)
Buy a car. Vehicle loans, like mortgages, are installment loans. Credit cards are revolving lines of credit. In the US, your credit score factors in the different types of credit you have.
Note that there are several methods for calculating credit scores, including multiple types of FICO scores.
You could buy a car and drive for Uber to help cash flow the car payments and/or save for your next purchase.
As others have suggested, you should be very careful with debt and ask critical questions before taking it on. Swiping a credit card is more about your behavior and self-control than it is logic and math. And if you ever want to start a business or make multi-million dollar purchases (e.g. real estate), or do a lot of other things, you'll need good credit.
