By Sabrina Karl

Good credit is important to your financial health. Those with good scores get better offers on mortgage, auto, and credit card rates. It can also affect how much you pay for insurance, or affect your ability to rent.

By design, credit scores take a long view backwards. So it’s not realistic to imagine boosting your score 100 or 150 points in a couple of months. But if you’ll be applying for a loan or credit in the near future and want to quickly boost your score 10, 20, or even 50 points, some score-improving strategies do work faster than others.

First, commit to not missing any payment due dates in the future, as this is the number one factor calculated in your score. Though your on-time payment history tracks back for years, there’s no better time than the present to eliminate late payments from your report.

Second, request your free credit report from all three agencies and read through each one, noting anything you see that appears incorrect. If you find errors, dispute them with that agency, as removing a negative mark from your report can immediately improve a score.

Third, lowering your credit utilization rate can quickly impact on your score. Do this by reducing your debts, increasing your available credit, or both. Paying down debt balances is always beneficial, because the less you owe, the higher your score.

Next, if you’re able to resist maxing out any new credit, ask one or more of your existing credit cards for a credit limit increase. When your limit goes up, but you don’t use it, your score also improves.

Ultimately, improving your credit score is a longer-term project than something you do for a couple of months. But when time is tight, these strategies will give you a quick start.