Struggling with bad credit? It happens to the best of us. A few late payments are no big deal, but when they strike your credit, you need to take charge. So don’t wait around, get down to fixing what you can to increase your credit score. If you’re not sure how you can fix this directly, check out this article. There are small and creative ways in which you can fix a bad credit score, ways that you never even thought of!

First, understand the variables you’re dealing with. Credit score is a three-digit number that measures how dependable someone is in terms of repaying borrowed money. It’s got five components: the mix of debit and credit that you use, your debt burden, payment history, the time duration of this history, and the number of inquiries into your credit. To improve your score, you have to change your credit practices. Cut down on your spending and ensure that you make regular payments. Here are some alternative ways of raising a bad credit score:

1. Additional income
If you don’t want to cut down on your expenses, you can create a new source of income instead. You could do this by asking your employer for a raise, renting out a room in your house, selling items that you make out of your creativity, or even getting a second job.

2. Filing taxes
Tedious as it is, filing your taxes means you may have a major tax refund waiting for you. This will definitely help you pay off debt and improve your credit score.

3. Library books
Do you borrow books from your local library often? If you do, ensure that you return them on time. A large number of libraries report unpaid balances to collection agencies, which may report you to the credit bureaus if your balance is overdue. This can affect and lower your score by 25 to 100 points when shown on your credit report.

4. Credit report errors
Everybody gets an error in their credit report now and then. Sometimes, it’s a spelling error, an undocumented change in your name, or mistakes in your address. Thankfully, you can ask for your credit report at zero cost and check it for errors like this. Fixing them could mean a great leap in your credit score, sometimes even hundreds of points!

5. Establishing better credit on a new card
All that it takes to build good credit is to show that you can be responsible. This means you could simply open up a new credit card and charge a manageable amount every month. If you can pay off this amount of money on time over a long while, your payment history will start to look predictable and dependable, improving a bad credit score.

There’s no bad credit score that a little innovative thinking won’t fix, so use these ideas and get yourself on the road to great credit and ultimately, great credit practices.