The COVID-19 virus has spread unease and fear in 2020, and not just from a health standpoint. With millions of Americans out of work and small businesses forced to close shop due to the pandemic, financial fears have pushed front and center over the past few months. This article will address a common financial fear as of late: How to ride out this storm while keeping your credit score as stable as possible.
Check Credit Score Regularly
You should already be regularly monitoring your credit report during the best of times, but it’s especially important to do so during this tumultuous season in order to spot possible mistakes before they have a chance to negatively affect your credit score. Contact the creditor immediately if you do catch a mistake. Recent mistakes can typically be rectified with minimal headache while ones that sit on your credit report longer can take longer to get resolved. With COVID scams happening and many Americans’ income in flux, it’s good practice for the time being to check your credit reports monthly. In fact, the three national credit reporting agencies—Equifax, Experian, and Transunion—are offering free weekly credit reports until April of next year. You can access your reports at AnnualCreditReport.com.
Make On-Time Payments or Contact the Creditor
When possible, continue to make on-time payments, even if it’s just the minimum amount due, through the pandemic. A positive payment history is a major step in ensuring that your credit score stays the course. However, if your income has been affected and emergency savings accounts have been drained, this might not be possible. If this is the case, the best course of action is to contact the lender or creditor as soon as possible as they may have workable payment options available to help you get through this time. Proactive and early communication is paramount. Be prepared to discuss how much you can afford to pay and when you expect to resume regular payments.
Consider a Balance Transfer
You may have found over the past few months that you’ve needed to rely more on credit cards while simultaneously being unable to pay them off each month. If so, now might be a good time to explore a balance transfer where your debt would be transferred to a card that offers a lower interest rate on that balance and may reduce your monthly payment. The low-interest rates are typically temporary, but the payment reduction from lower-interest rate cards can at least help to keep your credit card debt from escalating out of control until you can get back on your feet.
Budget and Make a Plan / Prioritize Payments / Revisit Budget
This crisis is affecting almost everyone, whether you’ve lost your job, you’ve experienced a reduction in work hours, or you’re anxious about the economic fallout of the pandemic, so there’s no better time to rework your budget following these steps:
- Assessing any take-home income.
- Examine your financial commitments and variable spending
- Determine where you can cut back, even temporarily
Taking steps to free up more money in your budget helps to decrease financial stress, which allows you to focus on the most necessary financial commitments while better positioning yourself to protect your credit. If needed, that money can be used for essential expenses, like food and bills, but if you’re in a better position, you can sock away some of it in an emergency savings account for future use.
