Credit is the ultimate Catch-22. You can’t qualify for credit until you’ve proved yourself worthy with good credit history, but you can’t build credit history until you’ve qualified for credit in the first place. Despite the understandable exasperation these kinds of cyclical realities create, building credit is important and should not be ignored or put off. It’s better to start taking small steps towards building a strong history of responsible borrowing today than wait until you really need it to finance a major purchase like a home or to qualify for an urgent loan.

Despite the Catch-22, there are ways to build credit from scratch. These strategies can also be useful in rebuilding credit after a major credit faux pas, or with a history of poor credit usage. 

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