I'm Nicole Lapin, the only financial expert you don't need a dictionary to understand.

It's time for some money rehab. Your credit score is like your financial report card and maybe your report card

wasn't all that important once you got out of school but in the money

world it is very important.

A low credit score means you might pay a higher interest rate on your credit card and

when you're buying a home it will mess with your mortgage rate and it can be the

deciding factor in whether or not you get a mortgage at all.

NetNet, if you need to take out a loan for something important,

banks will look at your credit score to approve you or not.

Today's Money Rehabber Jen reached out to me because she's not happy with her low credit score and want some help making a strategy to possibly improve it.

In our conversation I give her a plan that could help her raise her credit score by an average of 21 points in just three days. If you're looking to show your low credit

score some love, this plan might help you get started too. So let's dig in.

Jen, welcome to Money Rehab.

Hi, thanks for having me.

So I know you're feeling like your credit score

needs a little rehab, needs a little love.

Tell me a little bit more about what's going on.

I think that I have made some poor choices in the past,

had a little lifestyle creep, trying to have a little fun

while working, and I seem to like got myself into trouble.

So I've been working on trying to pay it back,

but you know I'm at a time where I think about wanting to buy a home in the future,

...