Five Things that Ohio Consumers can Buy with a Credit Card to Help with Credit Repair

woman making a credit card purchase best for credit repair

If you’re working on credit repair in Ohio, your credit card can serve as a valuable tool. This may seem strange if overusing a credit card was what led to the downfall of your credit score. However, you have to use credit in order to build or rebuild good credit. Of course, purchases made with a credit card can only help with credit repair efforts if they are manageable and easily paid off. This is why Ohio residents who are trying to fix their credit scores should only use credit cards to pay for items that fit into their budgets.

The Best Credit Card Purchase for Ohio Residents Concerned with Credit Repair

If you don’t currently have a credit card to use as a credit repair tool, you might want to consider applying for a secured credit card. Most Ohio consumers won’t have trouble qualifying for a secured card because opening one requires a cash deposit. The amount that you deposit (usually $200-$500) becomes your credit card spending limit. Otherwise, secured credit cards work just like unsecured credit cards. You can use them to make purchases, and you will be expected to make a payment every month.

There are three things Ohioans should remember when using a credit card to build good credit:

  • You have to keep your credit utilization low. Ideally, you should be using no more than 30% of your available credit at any time. Using too much of your spending limits – or, worse, maxing out credit cards – can bring down your credit score even if you’re making all of your payments on time. Also, carrying high balances on high interest credit cards can cause debt to accumulate and make it harder to keep up with payments.
  • Small purchases can add up quickly. This is why you should carefully choose the things that you charge with a credit card and know how much to expect to pay when the bill arrives.
  • Eventually, you’ll need to pick up a different type of credit. Credit cards are a type of revolving credit. In order to earn the best credit score possible, you will also need to show that you can also manage installment credit. So, at some point, you’ll want to apply for a personal loan or an auto loan to achieve a good credit mix on your credit reports.

Now, when it comes to choosing the items to buy with a credit card that will maximize your credit repair goals, one word should come to mind: Affordability. Picking expenses that you’ve already made room for in your household budget is the best way to make your credit card work for you and not against you. Here are some suggestions:

1 – Gas

If you own and drive a car in Ohio, you’re already purchasing gas on a regular basis. So, why not use a credit card at the pump and pay off the bill every month? For a lot of consumers, this is the easiest way to use a credit card as a credit repair tool. As a bonus, there are credit cards available that offer perks for gasoline purchases.

2 – Groceries

You have to eat, right? Knowing this, grocery purchases should already be figured into your household budget. So, it should be relatively simple to set aside money for these expenses. Charge your grocery store purchases, and pay off your credit card balance every month.

3 – Cell Phone, Internet, and Streaming Services  

You can call it your “technology tab”. This is the total amount that you pay for services to various tech devices. You’re going to pay for these services anyway, so you might as well charge them to your credit card.  This again will improve your credit score with your timely payments.

4 – The “Miscellaneous” Category

If you’re like a lot of Ohio consumers who take their monthly budgeting seriously, you have a “miscellaneous” category that covers random but necessary expenses. Items that fall into this category might be socks, tape, gifts for friends and coworkers, and haircuts. As long as long as these small purchases are well-managed, they can safely go on your credit card.

5 – Entertainment

If you have a regularly occurring “splurge night” worked into your budget. The cost of these evenings out could be part of your credit repair plan. It’s okay to break out the plastic to cover a movie, a date night dinner, or a live music event. Just make sure to keep tabs on how much you’re spending so that you don’t overdo it.

Why Ohio Credit Card Users should Regularly Check their Credit Reports

If you’re using a credit card as part of a credit repair plan, it’s important to keep careful tabs on your credit reports. It’s up to the three major credit bureaus – TransUnion, Equifax, and Experian – to make sure that your payment activity is reported correctly, and sometimes these bureaus make mistakes. In fact, about 80% of consumer credit reports contain errors of some kind. Wouldn’t it be annoying if your credit repair efforts were ruined by mistakes on one or more of your credit reports?

Don’t let it happen. Just visit www.annualcreditreport.com and request free copies of your credit reports from each of the three major credit bureaus. Under the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act, you are able to do this every 12 months.

If you spot inaccuracies on any of your credit reports, you should report and dispute the incorrect items immediately. After receiving your written disputes and supporting documents, the credit bureaus have 30 days to conduct a reasonable investigation of your claims. If any Ohio resident wants professional help with the disputing process, they can get a FREE credit repair lawyer to stand up for their rights under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA).

The Free and Legal way to Get Better Credit

Don’t let errors on your credit reports bring your credit score down. At, the Law Offices of Gary D. Nitzkin we’ve been cleaning up credit reports for consumers since 2008 for free. How do we do it? The law allows us to collect our fees and costs from the defendants in any successful action.  This is why our clients pay nothing for the work we do.

Let’s start the conversation about what we can do for your credit. Set up your free consultation today by calling Attorney Gary Nitzkin at (888)293-2882 or sending him a message through our contact page.