Addiction can affect every area of your life. Drug and alcohol abuse can change a person’s character and cause them to act out in ways they normally wouldn’t.
Even after receiving addiction help in a partial hospitalization program, these individuals may struggle to pick up the pieces. Financial troubles are especially common in addiction recovery. Because substance abuse can affect your job, you may have been struggling before treatment to pay the bills or contribute to other responsibilities. Your credit card bills can add up quickly, putting you in a tough spot. If you’re in this position, you may not know how to fix your credit score after rehab. Fortunately, Banyan Treatment Centers Chicago has offered some tips for improving your credit after addiction.
Ways to Fix Your Credit After Addiction
Paying off your credit card debt and improving your credit is a process. Keep in mind this isn’t a one-day thing. Depending on how much you owe, this process can span between a few months and years. It’s easy to become discouraged, but being able to enjoy your sobriety without financial troubles is worth it. If you don’t know how to fix your credit score in recovery, here are a few tips that can help.
Have a Steady Job
A consistent income is the best way to lower your credit score. Without an income, you can’t pay off your debt. This can be a tough step for individuals in recovery. But even if it means finding a new job that contributes to your sobriety, it’s important to rejoin the workforce to fix your credit score.
It can be tough to make the decision to receive addiction treatment. Fortunately, our rehab center in Illinois can make the process easier. At our facility we offer safe and effective forms of substance abuse treatments that tackle each facet of this disease. Regardless of the form of substance abuse, we can help patients recover and regain control of their health and lives.
Frequently Check Your Credit Score
Ignoring your credit score won’t make it go away. Staying on top of your credit allows you to see where you stand and what you need to do to fix it. You can also see any improvements made to your credit score. There are several credit apps that allow you to consistently check your credit score for free.
Pay Your Bills on Time
One of the best ways to fix your credit score in recovery is by paying your bills on time. Even one late payment can cause a significant drop in your credit score. Your credit payment history makes up more than 35% of your credit score.1 This means that the more on time your payments are, the higher your credit score will be.
Limit Your Spending
Limiting your spending helps you avoid building up more debt and allows you to save up money to pay what you currently owe. Saving money to pay off your debt can help you decrease your debt-to-income ratio, which refers to the percentage of income that goes into paying debts. This can also help you prove to credit lenders that you can manage your credit card payments.
Dispute Any False Charges
If you find any false or inaccurate charges in your credit card statement, you can dispute them with the credit bureau. Keep in mind that you must provide evidence that you didn’t make those charges. It’s common for credit card information to be stolen or falsified, and disputing any false charges can help you clear debt.
Don’t Close an Unused Credit Card
If you don’t know how to fix your credit score after rehab, another tip that may surprise you is keeping your credit cards open. Although you may think that closing a credit card can help you limit your spending, this can actually hurt your credit score. Even if you’ve paid off your credit cards, keeping them open helps you maintain a low credit utilization ratio and boost your credit score. A credit utilization ratio is the amount of credit you’re using divided by the total amount of credit you have available.2 The less credit you’re using, the better.
Set Realistic Goals
Setting up a realistic schedule for your payments can help you stay consistent and avoid getting you into any further debt. Consistent payments also improve your score and show lenders that you’re responsible with your payments.
Fixing your credit score after rehab is only one of the many struggles that recovering addicts have to face. That’s why we offer different levels of care designed to treat different substance abuse disorders and help people manage the aftermath.
If you or a loved one is battling with addiction, get help today by calling Banyan Chicago at 888-280-4763 to find out more about our treatments and programs.
Sources & References:
- MyFico- What is payment history?
- Experian- What is a Credit Utilization Rate?
