Here's our round-up of the best video editors for Andriod right now, including a review of the leading options and our top pick for which one takes the title of best video editing app on Andriod.

There are many options out there, like,

1. Adobe Clip
2. Quik
3. PowerDirector
4. Inshot
5. KineMaster
6. Youcut
7. ActionDirector
8. Wevideo
9. Vivavideo

But the biggest thing you will find is that most of the apps out there are not really video editing apps, they will let you maybe trim off the start or the end of the clip and maybe throw a filter on, or it's completely theme-based or template-based, where you don't even get to control the edit, you just tell it which clips you'd like to include and it will go ahead and cut something for you.

That is not really video editing, but the apps on our shortlist, the ones that we are about to cover are standout editing apps that will actually let you edit your videos and have full control over them just like you would on a desktop computer.

From all of those, our shortlist is made up of 

1. InShot
2. KineMaster
3. PowerDiredtor

Now, let's take a look at each one of these in a little bit more detail.

1. InShot

Is a super easy to use, really intuitive video editing app and that is something that was really surprising to me, it's probably the fastest app out there to be able to edit your video down really quickly, but we are talking simple edits here, not really advanced edits.



It got great color correction options and filters and thing that you can apply across your video, and it supports all the major video sizes or formates, making it perfect for creating social media content.

It's also said the app itself, the overall interface is really intuitive and easy to use and it's actually total, unlike any of the other more professional video editing applications. 



The app itself is free, but there are ads in it, there are ads while you are editing that appear on the side of the timeline area, but also, before you go to do things like, save your video out. Now, if you do wait for the ad to play before you save out your video, then your video is going to be exported without any watermarks or branding, 

But obviously, you can pay to remove all the ads and if you are going to be using this a lot or you going to be using this for business, then I definitely think it would be worthwhile.

There are 3 pricing options you've got when it comes to upgrading to the pro version,

1. One Time Fee: $43 (That we give you access to the pro version for life)
2. Monthly: $4.39
3. Per Year:  $13.99

Overall I think inshot is a great option for someone who just wants to make simple edits.

2. KineMaster

Which is, again, another easy to use, so much powerful video editing app. The interface is really intuitive and easy to find everything and it's definitely not going to be overwhelming. It's got a great feature set and there's lots of advanced control in there, things that you only see in more professional video editing software. 



The app itself does have in-app purchases, so you can buy extra transitions, effects and titles and those sorts of things and there is also an iOS version of this as well. So, if you are someone that has a mix of devices, some Andriod, iOS, then you can actually get the same app and have the same experience on both of those.

It also does support different video sizes and formats, but once you have selected your size and you've started to create your video, you actually can't swap between them once your project is started.

Free = Watermark

The free version of kinemaster does have a watermark or branding on it when you go to export your video, but you can pay to remove that and any ads that are in the app, paying either 

1. Per month: $5.20
2. Yearly: $42

But, again, considering what you are getting access to, this seems like an absolute no-brainer for someone that is serious about creating videos on their Andriod device.

KineMaster then would be a great option for someone either beginner or right through to advanced, that wants more advanced editing features and more control over their editing.

3. PowerDirector

Noce again, it's another powerful video editing app on Andriod with an interface that is surprisingly simple and easy and intuitive to use. Even if you are an absolute beginner, it's going to be really easy to jump into PowerDirector, easy to find everything and to get up and editing fast.



You've also got the option with in-app purchases to purchases things like extra transitions, titles and effects and all those sorts of things, and it also links with the Pc version of PowerDirector.

If you are a PC user and you've got Powerdirector on your PC, you can start your edit on your Andriod device using this app and then you can transfer to your PC and finish editing over there. Just the same as with KineMaster, Powerdiredtor does support different video sizes and different formats, but once you have actually started editing your project, you can't switch between them.

If you start out editing your video down for youtube and then decide that it's going to be better off on something like Instagram stories and you want to convert it from widescreen to portrait, then that is something that is going to be rather difficult to do without starting over or exporting it all and importing it back in.

1. Free = Watermark
2. Free = 720P

The free version of PowerDirector does have a watermark, and you are limited to 720P, so you can't export 1080 with the free version.

To remove the watermark and unlock all the features, you either pay

1. Per Month: $7.50
2. Monthly - 3 Month Access: $5
3. Yearly: $53

That is for best video editing apps for android devices.

In today article we are breaking down the top 3 best free editing software with absolutely no watermarks, no signing up for a program, editing a project and then they tell you either you have to pay for it or you get a big old watermark on your editing. None of that nonsense in on this list.

I am going to give you the information that you need to go out there and edit for free. Without further ado, let's get into 1 to 3 picks.

1. Shotcut Video Editing Software

• 100% Free
• No Watermark

Shotcut is available for all major operating systems whether it be Linux, Mac or Windows. So this is accessible to pretty much everybody, I've heard if you want a Chromebook, you might have a couple problems, but pretty much anybody but the Chromebook users, I am very sure you can grab this and there is no watermark, 



Obviously, none of the editors on this list have any watermark and it is entirely free and you can download it.

Super easy to edit through, if you have a little bit of background information on video editors, maybe you messed around with Windows Live Movie maker, then you should fit nicely with shotcut. And is relatively easy to use and navigate your way around. download. Visit https://shotcut.org/

2. DaVinci Resolve

• 100% Free
• No Watermark

Davinci is a phenomenal editor, probably my favorite on this list, even though it's not at the number one spot but it does come to instill with all of my operating systems out there, Linux supported, Max supported, window supported.



You definitely can do more or less anything you want in there, I think it's probably one of the most advanced ones on this list, I feel as though it's the most similar to Premiere Pro as well. If you have heard Premiere pro, Dobby premiere, I assume you are a good video editor, and you maybe see that as a future editor you want to get into, then I'd advise you to get started with Davinci Resolve.

Visit https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/uk/products/davinciresolve/

3. Hitfilm Express

They offer a paid and a free version. They offer a "Hit film express" which is the free version and a "hit film" just a standalone hit film. Which is the paid version, and there is a significant price difference being one of those free and one of them is like $100 or more. Is a significant amount of money compared to the freebie version?


It is not available for Linux, it's only available for mac and windows, so if you are a Linux user you are going to have to go with one of those original editors that we talked about before whether it's shotcut or DaVinci. https://fxhome.com/hitfilm-express



Those are the top 3 free video editing software, hope you benefit from it.

Today, I want to talk to you about how you can become a full-time videographer or filmmaker and make an actual living. Probably one of the most common questions I see people asking is "how do I make a living off videos or questions about how you guys can make a living or how you can grow".

Another question I get is "Film school" Is it worth it?

It depends, do you have a lot of money to spend, are you willing to go into debt, and is the film school you are going to go to be worth it?. Some film school are poor, there was not a lot of hands-on experience with gear, there was not a lot of knowledge going around the different classes, the teachers weren't that great, the connection you made weren't that great and you weren't put in a position after film school to be in the industry.

Now, if you go to a trade school in Los Angeles like Brooks or Chapman, they have programs in place to get you a jobs, the infrastructure is there, you meet a lot of people, you are already surrounded in the industry because you are in LA, and in that circle, they also have a lot of hands-on experience with top-notch gear from the industry and people in the industry.

If you are going to a film school route and you can afford it or you are willing to take out the loan to do that. Those are the types of schools I would recommend. I wouldn't recommend a film school from some college in the middle of the country or a school near you.


Now, I am going to go into the top 5 pieces of advice I can give to you, to basically turn videography and filmmaking into a career for yourselves.

1. Shoot All The Time Whether Paid Or Not.

So many people get caught up in they are only going to work if it is a paid gig. I have a friend who is a videographer, he started shooting music videos, he short turns of free music videos. He was trying to build his name as a director, he didn't really care about getting paid, he was getting paid around $200 to $300 for a local music video to shoot, edit, everything

But he would reach out to the artist that he either like or that was bigger and offered to shoot free videos. And the reason was, he was looking to network, he was looking to grow not only his reel, his work, but his network of people and around him.

By shooting these music videos for these bigger artists, and growing not only his work and reel that he can push on to other people. Other bigger artist or other names and people/clients, would take notice of that video and then they would hire him to do something.

Don't get caught up, you have to do a paid gig, you have to go out and pay your dues, you got to do the work it takes to build your name. So don't get caught up in the money and that you only can do a paid job, because you will kill your career right there.

2. Networking

Reach out to people and connect with them. That is where you are going to grow is by building relationships, networking is the most important part of this industry and becoming a full-time filmmaker videographer and making living off of it. The more people you know, the more people that know of you, the more work you are going to get.

Network, reach out to people constantly and don't be afraid to take free work.

3. Build A Reel And A Website

Now, with all this work that you have collected and you've created, build a reel to show off your talents, That you can then pitch to people, for example, you can take all the videos that you have done for some artist, and build a reel, and then you can use that reel to pitch to bigger artist like "Hey, love your music, would love to shoot a music video for you, here's my work, here's is my reel, check it out"

You can send countless emails every day to a different artist or people you wanted to work with. And you are guaranteed to not get a lot of responses, it's going to happen, but that one response you do get out of that all the emails you send, is worth it.

A website. You are going to develop that website, look professional, you can direct people to your website, you can direct into your reel. You want to show people the work that you can do.

4. Be Professional And Efficient

I can't tell you how important this is. If you are not professional and you are not efficient with your work whether it's on production or the post-production end, you are going to lose clients, they are not going to come back to you and you are going to lose that work, and word of mouth may get around to other companies or people, artist, whatever the type of work you are doing, "that this person is not professional, they are not good, don't hire them".

Be professional, be timely, be efficient, and you will get clients coming back to you for more and more work. More work, more money, if you produce something faster and get them back faster than someone else they have before, guess who they are going to go with, next time they need a project? They are going to go with you, the person that did it faster.

--------- Check Out The Best Cameras Used To Shoot Video & Photo Below -------

Camera — Canon 6D
https://amzn.to/2Zr4NkP

Lens — Tamron SP 24-70mm F/2.8
https://amzn.to/2ZtvSjv

Tripod — Light Weight Aluminum Tripod With Bag Includes Universal Smartphone Mount
https://amzn.to/2Hp7M2V

Microphone — Compact VMP Shotgun Microphone 
https://amzn.to/321OA36

Lighting — 1x Photography & Video 20"x28" Softbox Continuous Lighting Kit w/ 2500W Equivalent Total 
https://amzn.to/2zjHUkH

MacBook Pro: 
https://amzn.to/2HlgYFy


Alright, folks, I try to sum up my best pieces of advice for becoming a full-time videographer and filmmaker and how to sustain that and make a really good living off of it, you can make a really good living off of it.

I am going to be sharing my 5 best tips, when it comes to the creative industry, whether that is video, film, design, there is a lot of different paths for building your influence, your skills, and career. But I want to share some tips from my personal journey.

1. Volunteering Or Interning.

The way I actually got started in video production, was volunteering and interning at a church. And the cool thing about interning and volunteering as I didn't have any money. So maybe you can relate to being broke and not being able to invest in gear. I was able to get my hands on the gear that the church-owned. So I was able to get the experience, get the editing software, all of these different things so I could level up my skills.

Your goal here with number one is to get experience in your specific area. Maybe ask the question, is there somebody who is actually doing wedding videography or photography in your local area that you could reach out to and say, "Hey, can I assist you, could I follow you and shadow you for a shoot? "I'll carry your bags, I'll help out, I won't get in the way."

That is one of the quickest ways to level up your experience fast. 

2. Say "Yes" To Everything Including Unpaid Work.

Does that mean work for free? It does, because again, early on you really want to master your craft. And I am not saying that you should only ever do free work. But when you are just starting, you want to get as much experience as possible. You can do either sometimes free work, even low paying projects because you need to get your portfolio to build and get your experience going.

3. Build Your Portfolio.

In addition to potentially doing some free work, volunteering, and maybe interning, if you are just getting started, I want to encourage you to make sure you are building your portfolio online. It's not because anybody was expecting you to upload videos there, but you want to have a place where your body of work could be collected.

So ask yourself, where are you building your portfolio online? Is it a Youtube channel? Or maybe it's like a Behance account, or there are these other options for building up your body of work.


As you can see from these first 3 tips, it is all about getting as much experience as possible. 

4. Study the Greats In Your Niche

Identify the best of the best in your industry, in your specific topic. Maybe the best of the best photographers, but not necessarily general photography. If you don't want to do landscape photography, but you want to do weddings. Who are the best of the best wedding videographers and photographers in your niche that you can follow, learn from?

And additionally, you should be doing this while you are going through all the first 3 tips. Like while you are producing work, always be learning. Make a commitment to lifelong learning. 

There is something about acknowledging and figuring out who are the greats in your industry, and how can I study and learn from them. I think a huge commitment to investing in your own education when it comes to mastering your craft, is very important.

• I talked about 5 tips, but those first 4 go under phare one, which I really believe is mastering your craft phase. The thing is, you don't want to start marketing a bad product. And when you are creating video or you are doing photography, it's not that you can't get started at wherever you are and start charging.

But there is something about reaching a level of mastery first, and then the marketing is a lot easier. Again, the best marketing in the world on bad content will never work. So phase one is focused on those first 4 tips, and master your craft.

Then phase 2 is getting the word out. So you ask, "How do I get the word out" about my new business?" And one tip that I will give here,

5. Use Social Media And Youtube

It is amazing that we live in an age that is very advantageous for videographers, for photographers. Because what better place to grow your influence as a photographer than Instagram. What better place to grow your influence as a videographer than youtube?

These are free platforms where you can publish your work, build your influence, and have that lead to new business, and new people discovering you to hire you. Again, the content itself has to be good. People watched the video and said, "I want that same quality. I want a wedding video like that. That was step 1, and step 2 is making sure that they could find you.

Whether that is the email address, having formed on your websites. So then emails come to you that says, "Hey can I hire you." 

Another example is if you really want to grow your influence with photography, be on Instagram and be mastering Instagram, studying Instagram, and posting amazing video clips, photo clips. Every bride is pretty much on Instagram.

If you want to grow your wedding photography/videography business, master these social media platforms, and that would be my number one tip for getting found in your city.

--------- Check Out The Best Cameras Used To Shoot Video & Photo Below -------

Camera — Canon 6D
https://amzn.to/2Zr4NkP

Lens — Tamron SP 24-70mm F/2.8
https://amzn.to/2ZtvSjv

Tripod — Light Weight Aluminum Tripod With Bag Includes Universal Smartphone Mount
https://amzn.to/2Hp7M2V

Microphone — Compact VMP Shotgun Microphone 
https://amzn.to/321OA36

Lighting — 1x Photography & Video 20"x28" Softbox Continuous Lighting Kit w/ 2500W Equivalent Total 
https://amzn.to/2zjHUkH

MacBook Pro: 
https://amzn.to/2HlgYFy


I hope this article was helpful, do leave a comment if you have anything to say

I've gotten a lot of people who have asked me to write an article highlighting the pros and cons of being a real estate agent. Now, I want to start with the cons, because this is typically what most people will first come across

Cons 1. Negative Criticism

You will voice to somebody say hey I am thinking about being a real estate agent and they will negatively pour out the doubt or insecurities, no one will ever tell you to go for it, that you will be successful.

Everyone's will be like "you, being a real estate agent" get out of here. A lot of people who never done it or have failed will tell you to get out of here, you'll never going to hear something negative from somebody who's done it and actually been on the other side of success when it comes to doing something entrepreneurial or real estate.

You will be doubted, you will be told all of the possibilities or negative possibilities in particular about being a realtor

You are going to being told you can't do it, you are too young, blah blah blah, whatever it is, so be ready and that is the con, you will face a lot of criticism and negative criticism because it is a career. unfortunately where the majority of people do become a statistic and they fail. That is just the facts, if you look it up I think it's 87% of realtor within their first 2 years are out of the business, there is a reason the other 13% are still there, now, out of that 13% only a small percentage are actually really successful.

Cons 2. Easy To Get In.

This is also a con because you are going to be surrounded with people who are average or mediocre and whose advice will not be the best, so I am going to heed you with this warning and say make sure that you follow advice from the right people.

Cons 3. You Are An Independent Contractor

For a lot of people that work against them, "here is why" you suddenly get into this career where you don't have a boss or somebody yelling down your throat, you don't have to clock in a 9-to-5 setting. So, some people are like well, that is great, I have freedoms, I can do anything I want. Majority of people take that the wrong way and instead of actually buckling down and working more, they end up working less.

Cons 4. Lack Of Proper Training.

When you get a regular 9-to-5 job where you go to the special section or special career with a doctor, engineer, lawyer, whatever, you will receive a certain amount of formal training whether from your company or some sort of Avenue. That is the lack of real estate.

But with that being said, we are now in a different area now, you can come to this site and learn about real estate for free or go to youtube and few others source and get a ton of free training.

Here come the Pro

Pro 1. The Barrier Entry Is Very Low

The label real estate is an easy job, people look at it and they think it's easy, yeah, it is a direct sales job you have to talk to people and clients, but that is not the way it's packed up and sold. Is package up as an easy job, "but it's not" if you get into the business that cold hard reality is going to slap you in the face.

You will be seeing million dollar listing and some people just get on the phone and they negotiate and then they make thousands of dollars, you'll ask yourself a question, what is going on here? What I am doing wrong?

Pro 2. You Can Change Your Life In 6 Month

You can climb any kind of corporate ladder, you can just go straight to the top based on your production, so if you product you get paid, if you work on your skills and you make your learning curve shrink, and you start getting everything quickly and you can start getting sales and working hard, you can literally change your life in 6 month or a year guaranteed.

There are few other avenues on this planet right now and it's a little bit easier with the internet, however, there are few careers that you can get into and have that kind of success right away.

Pro 3. You Have To Learn At Least Basic Sale Skills

Do you think it's just about persuading people, no, a lot of people will have a difficult time making a decision, but with proper persuasion techniques and skill, you can get them out of their own way, help them make a decision and when they benefit, you also benefit? Nothing sweeter than that, and it's a skill that very few people have.



That is it for real estate, and if you have any thoughts or observations, feel free to use the comment box below.

Today we are going to be looking at the differences credit cards and charge cards and some of the pros and cons of that and this was actually suggested by one of our ready. Well, currently the only issuer of general use charge cards in the United State is American Express.

All the others have been resigns, there are some stores that issue store cards that are charge cards rather than credit card. They're just for use in that store they do not carry the logo of these Mastercard, Amex or whatever.

• American Express is actually the only issuer of general-purpose charge cards. 

Let Get into the article

What is the different between credit cards and charge cards?

Let's first talk about payment and credit limits

The way a credit card works is that you spend money on it and then at the end of the month you get a bill and you have typically around 21 days to pay that bill until your due date. When you get to the due date you have to at least pay the minimum payment which is normally at least $25 or a percentage, if you owe a lot of money it changes to a percentage.

If you owe several thousand dollars it could be like a hundred bocks or something. You have to at least pay the minimum payment and then if you don't pay the rest, that gets rolled over to the next month and it's charge interest on it. Typically around 20%, to 15% or 25%. 

If you don't pay the minimum payment then you will get hit with a late payment fee.

Chard Card

Now, on the charge card it's the same, you spend money on it, and at the end of the month you are sent a bill or a bill is generated online on the website, and you have to pay that bill, you typically have around 21 days until the due date when the bill is due

• But you have to pay it in full, if you don't pay the whole bill, even if you pay let say 95% of it, you will get hit with a late payment fee, now, with American Express their late payment fee it's a $27 and if you pay like twice within a six-month period it goes up to $38.

You get hit with quite a large late payment fee even if you only missed say $1, maybe you owe $1,000 and you only pay $999 and just miss $1, you will still have to pay $38.

Amex has introduced some payment plan options for large purchases, called pay overtime, it has been experimenting with credit cards style stuff on its charge card, I guess they're finding some way to compete when there are many other charge cards around and they want to stay relevant and give people more options and compete with other issuers.

They do have some options on their charge cards to pay overtimes, but typically the basics of a charge care are, you spend money on it and you pay it in full at the end of the month.

What About the Credit Limits on these Cards

With credit cards they have credit limits. And these credit limits normally each issuers cards will have minimum credit limits, for example, Capital One platinum minimum credit limits is $200.

Chase Sapphire preferred minimum credit limit is $10,000, if your credit score income is high enough and you qualify for the card you will be given a minimum let's say for the sapphires card you are given a minimum of $10,000 credit limit on it, if your credit score and your income is higher, they can give you $15,000 or $20,000 or they will first give you the $10,000 then over time as they see you are always paying off on time, they will raise your credit.

With Charge Cards

It works differently, there is no preset spending limit and they don't call it a credit limit, they call it a spending limit, and it's not preset. Now, Amex doesn't say how they work it out but bloggers like us and some people know.

The spending limit would be three times your highest balance that you have paid off in full over the most recent six month period. 

In 6 months let's say your highest balance was $2,000, but you didn't pay it in full, so then they would go to your next balance that you did pay in full, say $1,800 and they would times that by 3 which would get you $5,400 and that would be your spending limit.

• Then let's say if another month you spend $3,000 on your Amex charge card and you paid it all off, then they would increase your spending limit to $9,000 because that is three times the highest balance in that six-month period.

That is how it is believed that it's worked out, obviously these algorithms general kept secret and sometimes change as well, but that is current consensus on it.

No preset spending limit does not mean that there isn't a limit. There is, Amex does have a tool on its website that you can use to see if a purchase will go through. So, you can use this tool and you can type in an amount and it will tell you if it'll go through or not.

I don't recommend you just testing this tool going higher and higher to see where your spending limit is at, don't start at $5,000 you go $6,000, $7,000, test again and again because Amex looks at this kind of behavior and will get suspicious of you. Only use it if you actually genuinely have a purchases that you want to make and you want to see if the purchases will go through.

If you do want to make a very large purchase on an Amex charge card that is over your spending limits, and it is over the limit that you have used the tool to find, you can actually call them up, and usually, if you provide proof of funds, they will actually pre-approve that purchase.

Charge Cards Pros

They can encourage better financial responsibility because you know that you have to pay it back at the end of the month, so people generally do not spend as irresponsibly on them because they know they have to pay it back.

Credit Card Pros

Whereas credit cards do give you the flexibility that if in general, you spend responsibly but then you have one bad month let's say you're self-employ you don't have any clients that month, you could use a credit card just to get yourself through hard times and then next month you pay it back,

Credit cards are more flexible, charge cards you have to pay them off every month. I think charge cards are good for businesses, especially people who are let's say business travelers who put like $5,000 business class ticket on the card and then their company pays them back and they're able to pay it off immediately.

Credit cards definitely are going to be better for people who are less secure financially, who want sometimes borrow a little bit on their card, I don't recommend borrowing on cards because the APR is so high, but sometimes you hit on hard times and you have to do it, there is no choice.



That is basically the rundown on some of the keys on credit cards and charge cards

Today we're going to talk about what factors can affect your credit score and how to deal with them, so once you have your first credit card, you are going to build your credit score in order to access high credit lines and get other better credit cards in the future

There are 5 factors which can actually affect your credit score and those are 

1. Payment History (Which Affect 35% of Your Credit Score)
2. Credit Utilization (That is the amount of money you owe as a percentage of a total credit line, that affects 30% of your credit score)
3. Credit History (That affect 15% of your credit score)
4. Credit Inquiries (That affect 10%)
5. Type of Credit Used (That affect 10%)

Let's look at each of these factors in details

1. Payment History (Which Affect 35% of Your Credit Score)

That is a 35% of how your credit score is figured out, so that is the largest factor, and that is determined by how frequently you meet your credit card payments, so if you miss one payment it can have quite a big impact on your score.

Meet Minimum Payment or Pay In Full Each Month

Always pay your credit card bill in full on time and actually you don't have to pay your bill in full to make sure your credit history is all positive information, you just have to meet the minimum payment each month which is normally between $25 to $35. Depending on the card.

Don't Pay Interest

Because if you don't pay your bill in full you are going to end up paying interest which sort of defeats the object of all the credit card, it's dept you're paying interest on, that can be 20% per year, you don't really want to pay interest because I don't want you to pay interest and if you are looking at taking out debt, a credit card is not the way to do it, it's better to get a loan.

My recommendation is you should pay your credit card bill in full every month, otherwise, you are doing it wrong.

Let's look at a couple of ways to make sure you pay your credit card bill in full every month.

Safeguard Money In A Saving Account To Pay Your Credit Card

One way I like to use is to decide how much you intend to charge to a particular card that month, let's say $200, then first move $200 into a saving account, make the purchases using your card and once you hit $200 on the card that month. Don't use it again, until the end of the month and return to making purchases on your debit card or with cash then when the bill comes around you have the money in your savings account you compared immediately.

Direct Debit To Pay Minimum Payment

To make sure you never miss your minimum, to never get that negative information on your account is to set up a direct debit to your checking account to pay the minimum payment on your credit card usually around $25 and this will ensure you never have to pay any late fees and also never have that negative information on your credit report.

2. Credit Utilization (That affect 30% of your credit score)

Credit utilization is basically the amount of money you owe as a percentage of your overall credit line across all the credit card that you have in your possession. This is called credit utilization, so here's an example,

• Credit Line:  $1,000
• Owes:          $500
• Credit Utilization: 50%

If a person has access to a credit line of $1,000, this could be one card with $1,000 or two cards that are $500 each, doesn't matter, and they owe $500 on that credit cards out of that $1,000 total, they have a 50% credit utilization, because 500 is 50% of 1,000. 

• Credit Line:  $4,000
• Owes:          $500
• Credit Utilization: 25%

But if another person has access to a total credit line of $4,000 across one or more cards and they owe $1,000 across one or more cards even though they owe more money than the first person, that credit utilization is actually lower, it's only 25%, because 1000 is 25% of 4000, so they are in a better situation maintaining probably a better credit score than the first person even though they owe more money then that first person.

What Should You do?

Maintain Low Credit Utilization - 30% Or Lower Is Good

Typically it's advisable to maintain credit utilization of 30% or low in order to avoid this factor having a negative impact on your credit score and if you are preparing to apply for a new credit card or another financial product then it's advisable to go even below 10%

But don't forget credit utilization is measured as a percentage of all the lines of credit you have access to added together, 

Apply For Credit Limit Increase

One way to lower your credit utilization could be to apply for a credit limit increase or even get an extra credit card in order to increase the overall credit line you have access to while keeping your spending the same. But your credit utilization will drop and you will have a positive impact on your credit score.

3. Credit History (This affect 15% of your credit score)

This is something young people or new immigrant to the United State will struggle with, the card simply hasn't been open long enough thus they have a negative influence on the credit score, luckily this only accounts for 15% of how your score is worked out.

Let Me Explain

Keep Credit Accounts Open

Even if you don't use them anymore, keep your credit accounts open. This factor is measured by the average age of all the cards across all your accounts that you have, so if you've sort of graduated from a basic card to a more premium card, keep the basic card open even if you never use it.

Let's say you start with the Capital One Platinum like a lot of people do, once you get some other cards don't close that account down, keep it open maybe you buy a coffee with it once a month, pay it off immediately especially if there is no annual fee on that card, it's not going to hurt to keep it open and that is your oldest card, so it'll make the average length of your credit card account longer.

4. Credit Inquiries (That affect 10%)

There're 2 types of credit inquiries, 

• Hard credit inquiries
• Soft credit inquiries.

Hard Credit Inquiries Occur When A Lender Checks Your Credit

Hard credit inquiries are the type you need to worry about and they occur when a lender checks your credit report in order to make a lending decision. Eg, when you apply for a credit card or loan

Soft Credit Inquiries Occur When You Self Check Or Non-Lending Related Check

Soft inquiries occur when you check your credit yourself or a company checks your credit as part of a background check or you're pre-approved for a credit card.

Soft = No Permission

Soft inquiries can occur without your permission.

Hard = Require Your Permission

Hard credit inquiries definitely generally won't and these hard credit inquiries can cause your score to drop by between 2 and 4 points per time, but it'll usually rebound after a few months. People say 6 months sometimes shorter.

Multiple hard credit inquiries in a short time can give the impression you are desperate for credit and that can cause significant damage,

Limite To 1 To 2 Times Per Year

By limiting these hard inquiries to every 6 months or so you allow your score to recover.

5. Type of Credit Used (That affect 10%)

Diversifying your credit accounts can help you improve your credit score, this is the least crucial of all these factors but I am going to talk about it anyway, even though many people really won't consider this when looking at how to deal with a credit score.

There are 3 types of credit accounts

Revolving Accounts E.G. Credit Cards

Where you make a payment each month, different payments each month depending on how much you spend, you can choose how much to pay back and how much interest, if you don't pay in full and I am talking about credit cards the most common type of revolving credit account is a credit card

Installment E.G. Mortgage, Auto Loan

Where you pay a fixed amount each month until the balance is paid off, mortgage, an auto loan is a good example of that.

Open E.G. Cellphone, Charge Card

Where you pay what you owe in full each month, but the amount might vary, so a cellphone account or a charge card, like those American Express charge cards.

Only revolving and installment account will report to the credit agencies on a monthly basis, and generally open accounts like the cell phone bill, etc, will only report if you miss a payment, so they only report negative information, so they really don't help you improve your score.

But making sure you keep up to date with your phone bill, your electricity, but all those other things will help you maintain and keep negative information across your score, but they won't help your score grow.

What should you do?

Well, you could consider opening another installment credit account ie, an auto loan or mortgage, but a lot of these are big life decisions, getting a mortgage you know that is not something you would do just to improve your report, so most people don't really need to worry about these things it's good that you know about it.

If you do get a mortgage you know that getting a mortgage or an auto loan will have a positive impact on your credit report as long as you always pay it off on time.


That is the 5 factors that affect your credit score.