You've been working hard on your finances, you know your goals, but then

that single number, your credit score, feels like you just hit a brick wall.

Maybe it's lower than you expected and it's holding you back, and

that feeling of disappointment of frustration, it's heavy, isn't it?

What if there are powerful, quick actions that you can take right now

to see that number start climbing and finally cut through that frustration.

Well stick with me because we're diving into exactly how to find

that breakthrough on today's show.

Hey there, and welcome back to your Daily Financially Confident Christian.

I'm Ralph, and it's genuinly great to be with you again.

Remember, this is the show that helps you answer that question, how can I

become a financially confident Christian?

And we're continuing in our series dealing with the stress of money worries.

Now, yesterday we talked about understanding your credit report

and your score, and we talked about how to dispute issues if you have

something wrong on your credit report.

Well, today we're gonna take that knowledge even a step further, and we're

gonna actively talk about improving your credit score with some immediate impact.

So let's ask today, what are three quick ways to boost my

credit score and do it right away?

Now you've checked your credit score, like I said, perhaps you, you

were avoiding it for a long time, but, but now you've seen it, you've

taken my advice and you've seen it.

Now you're looking at that number and you're like, Ralph, this

number is not what I expected.

And honestly, it feels like a punch in the gut.

It feels like disappointment, a silent barrier to the goals that you have.

those dreams that you have, like buying a home or getting a good loan rate, or

even getting the loan into first place.

And you understand deep down, you know that building credit takes time.

This initial discouragement, it's just heart threatening.

It's heartbreaking, and you feel stuck.

Then you feel like you're, you're stuck in this struggle of wanting this

immediate impact while letting the credit bureau build your report over

the long term, and it feels so limiting.

But here's the thing.

You need to understand, and, and I, and I completely understand that

frustration, and I understand that disappointment, I've been there.

I remember at one point when I wasn't honoring my credit.

And I wanted to go get a new car loan and I went into the finance

office and the guy sat me down.

He says, Ralph, I listen.

Your credit score is not great.

And I kind of knew that I wasn't doing the right things.

And man, that was frustrating and that was disappointing.

And you need to understand something right from the get go.

Here.

Building credit is a marathon.

It's not some sprint.

So the things I'm gonna share with you today aren't going to make a

huge impact overnight, but they're going to start making an impact.

These aren't magic tricks.

They are wise applications of how scoring works and how to

get you to that next level.

Because remember, God calls us to be diligent and make the most of every

opportunity, and I found two verses from the Bible, which really key in on that.

The first one is Proverbs chapter four, verse seven says, this, wisdom is supreme.

Therefore, get wisdom, though it costs you all you have.

Get understanding what a great Bible verse, and then the book of Ephesians,

chapter five, verses 15 and 16.

It says this, be very careful then how you live, not as unwise, but as wise.

And I love the ending to this, making the most of every opportunity.

That's what today's about.

It's about making the most of every opportunity, and this is an opportunity

to get into that level of stewardship.

And these quick actions are just opportunities to accelerate that financial

health that you're on, strategically boosting your credit score to build that

diligence, stewardship, and open up some doors for better terms and reduce stress.

Really leveraging the opportunities that for God's purposes by

improving your financial reputation.

So now you're probably thinking, Ralph, what can we do?

Well, I've got a solution, and this is moving beyond limitation.

You gotta start thinking, how do you move from feeling limited and disappointed

to confidently taking immediate action?

So here's my single crucial solution, and this is an intentional plan to

implement one or two specific high impact actions that can quickly

begin to improve your credit score.

And I want you to just focus on the factors.

This means focusing on the factors that lenders weigh the most heavily for smart,

targeted effort and rapid improvement.

So here's your one action step for today, to quickly boost your credit score.

And I'm gonna give you three things that I feel like you can do.

The first thing, and this is the biggest one that you can

do, and that's aggressively pay down your credit card balances.

This is the big winner in the credit reporting situation.

The best thing you can do is pay down your card balances because

it's gonna have the fastest impact.

And here's a little thing that a lot of people don't mention.

The real key here is to try to get what they call your

utilization ratio below 30%.

So if, for example, if you've got a thousand dollars credit

card, you want to try to get that credit card balance below $300.

Now you're probably saying, Ralph.

Yeah, but the whole thing is I use it, right?

But see, here's the thing you gotta understand.

They look at your credit utilization, that credit utilization, if you're up

to 70, 80, 90%, that signifies an issue that could reduce your credit score.

Because, and see if you, suddenly drop the amount that you owe, it's

gonna boost your credit report.

Now here's another thing that you can do, and this one is just a matter

of finding a trusted family member.

And, and this, listen, I'm gonna tell you right now, it's gotta be somebody

who has good credit, you know, low balance, long history on time payments.

Ask them to add you as an authorized user.

Now, here's a little trick.

They don't even have to give you access to the card or give you access to the

account, just adding you to that as an authorized user, because then what happens

is you're gonna inherit their positive history and that can appear on your credit

report, potentially boosting your score.

And here's the final thing.

That you can do, and a lot of people have done this to try to boost their

credit score and that's in check to see if rent or utility payments can

be reported on your credit report.

Now, traditionally, bills often are not reported, but there are services

like Boost where you can have your rent reported and that way it starts

to show on your credit report and those consistent on-time payments, add

positive history, potentially lifting your score and it can lift it right away.

Now you might be saying, Ralph, how does this help?

Well, here's how it helps.

It fights that, that, that feeling of being stuck, it directly

combats that struggle of feeling stuck with that low score and that

discouragement that comes along with it.

It also is empowering because it empowers you with knowledge and

some practical steps for things that you can do to make a quick impact.

It improves your financial reputation faster than just sitting back and waiting.

See, that's the thing, like I could tell you to sit back and wait.

Make sure you pay your bills on time.

Yes, your credit score will improve, but these things can accelerate that,

and it's gonna help you build that confidence that's going to empower

you to pursue greater financial goals and do that with greater confidence.

Well, let's pray together now.

Father God, we just thank you for your wisdom and for the opportunities

that you give us to improve our lives.

And Lord, we confess that a low credit score can feel limiting and it can

feel discouraging, and we just ask that you would grant us diligence

to implement these quick actions.

Help us to be strategic and help us to be wise in managing our financial reputation.

And Lord, we just ask that you would bless our efforts to improve our

credit score so that we can have more doors opened up for good stewardship.

And Lord, we just ask that it would help bring us greater financial peace.

And we ask this in confidence.

In Jesus' name, Amen.

Now look, these are quick actions that can give you a real boost

and like I said, It's gonna take time to build excellent credit.

If you take smart quick actions, it can definitely boost your score sooner.

So I'm gonna encourage you take that step today.

And even if you just implement one of those things, one of those

strategies, it's going to help move you towards financial freedom.

And again, if this show, today's show has resonated with you, I'm gonna

encourage you to share it with somebody.

Somebody else might be feeling the same way you're feeling.

And you can find resources and connect with the

show@financiallyconfidentchristian.com.

And I've got a special gift for you if you go to financially

confident christian.com/master.

I'm gonna give you a free copy of my latest book and it's

called Mastering Your Finances.

It's a quick, powerful read to break that cycle of financial shame.

Confidence.

Now, tomorrow we're gonna be talking about the income side of this.

We're gonna move away from credit and debt and we're gonna talk about

the income side and ask the question, is the real source of stress, your

income, or are there new opportunities?

So I'm gonna encourage you to not miss it.

Now, let's all go out there and be financially confident.

Christians, you can do this.

I have confidence in you.

Have confidence in yourself.

Stay financially savvy.

God bless you, and you have a great day today.