How You Can Build Credit Without a Credit Card

Building good credit is one of the best things that you can do for yourself and your financial future. A strong credit score can be your key to buying a car, buying a home, getting a loan and having a strong financial portfolio. Before you ever even open a credit card, you will need to make sure you can prove that you have a good credit score. There are several ways to build credit. Most people associate building credit with credit cards. However, there are some risk and potential risks that can come with credit cards, which is why many people don’t like opening these cards. If you still want to build your credit, but don’t want to open credit cards, there are several ways that you can build your credit without cards. Here are some of the best credit-building tips to keep in mind.

Pay ALL Of Your Bills on Time

Yes it is important to pay your credit card and loan bills on time, but it is just as important to pay ALL of your other bills on time as well. This means your utility bills as well. If you have a bill whether it is a rent payment or a cable bill, you need to pay it and you need to pay it on time. If you create a strong history of paying bills and paying them on time, you can create better credit. This is one of those easy, straightforward ways that any person can build credit without credit cards and is something that everyone should consider practicing.

Always Pay Your Student Loan Payments

If you have student loan payments, as many individuals today do, paying them back is one of the best ways to build credit. Make sure that you pay your student loan payments on time and do your best to never miss or be late on a payment. Another great way to start building good credit with these student loans is to pay a little more down on your student loans payments than just the minimum. Even if it is a few extra dollars a month, the more you can do to pay down your student loan payments, the better off you will be.

Become an Authorized User

Becoming an authorized user on a credit card is a great way to start building your own credit score without having to take on the responsibilities of owning your own credit card. This means you do not have the obligations or financial responsibilities that credit card owners have, but you can still benefit from the credit benefits. You can become an authorized user on a friend or family member’s account, but most people will become an authorized user on their spouse’s account. The great thing is you are not legally obligated to pay the debts that may accumulate on this credit card and you do not have to have a certain credit score to open an account, the responsibility lies with the account holder, but you can still reap some of the benefits of the card.