Have you ever seen the movie Fight Club?

Do you remember the last scene where Psycho Boy Jack and Marla are holding hands watching the destruction of high-rise buildings through the window? Right after Jack shoots himself in the cheek?

Ok, good.

Well those buildings, according to the book by original author Chuck Pallahniuk, are credit card companies. In the story, the idea behind blowing up the buildings of all credit card companies is that everyone starts off with a new credit score because all the documents, history and evidence of customer credit scores would be destroyed

Fortunately, that is just a story and no buildings are going to be demolished.

Unforunately, your credit score is here to stay. So how do you improve your credit score if it’s not so hot?

Here are some tricks (tried and tested by yours truly):

WORK THE CREDIT CARD COMPANIES

1) Get a hold of a credit card. Even if you have to pay an annual fee, this may be the only credit card you can get with a poor rating. Make one to a few purchases a month on it that you KNOW you can afford, e.g. go out to dinner. Then…

Pay it off immediately. Go home, write a check, make note of it in your registrar or whatever you use to track your funds. I hope you do use something to keep track of your funds…

2) After 5-6 months of not missing a payment, call the credit card company for an increase in your credit. Say to the representative, or “Lady Machine” (they always remind me of the lady robots from Stepford Wives) something along the lines of you not missing a payment, making frequent purchases, etc.

Chance are, if you have a low credit score, you may only cap out at a $250 credit limit to start. That’s ok. Don’t worry. Credit is credit, just work with what you have. Use this card (but don’t exceed the limit)… then…

3) …after a few months, call the credit card company again, and lie through your teeth. Tell them you just received an offer from Company B to sign up with their credit card. But “confess” to the company how “happy you are to do business with them” and how you “don’t want to leave their company” and remind them of your consistent payments. Next thing you know, you’re at a credit limit of $750, and have warranted the attention of another credit company.

4) You will probably get offers from these other companies, even if the credit limit is small. You should act on this opportunity.

These suggestions are not guaranteed to work, but I speak from experience.

You have nothing to lose by trying. You’re in college, this is when it all starts. Don’t fall into that hole we fell into.

Remember, there is a building block to building credit, and you can’t do one with out the other.

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