Comment from sarja
Time February 8, 2010 at 3:20 am

Just pay you bills sweetheart!
We as Americans need to stop looking for the easiest way out.
You may also want to try a secure credit card.

Comment from Faye H
Time February 8, 2010 at 3:20 am

Improve Your Payment History. Always pay your bills on time. Late payments play a major role in driving down your score.

If you have past-due bills now, get current and stay that way.

Contact your creditors as soon as you know you will have a problem paying bills on time. Try to work out a payment arrangement and negotiate with them to keep at least a portion of the late notations off of your credit reports.

Keep Debt to a Minimum. Keep your credit card balances low. High debt-to-credit-limit ratios drive your scores down.

Pay off debt, don’t move it around. Owing the same amounts, but having fewer open accounts, can lower your score if you max out the accounts involved.

Don’t close unused accounts, because zero balance might help your score.

Don’t open new accounts that you don’t need as a quickie approach to altering your debt-to-credit-limit ratios. That can lower your score.

Length of Your Credit History. Time is the only thing that can improve this aspect of your scores, but you can manage it wisely:

Don’t open several new accounts in a short period, especially if your credit history is less than three years. Adding accounts too rapidly sends up a red flag that you might not be able to handle your credit responsibly.

Manage New Credit Wisely. Several credit inquiries during a short period means you are attempting to open multiple new accounts, and that lowers your credit scores.

Credit scoring software usually recognizes when you are shopping for a single loan within a short period of time, such as a home loan. If multiple inquiries are necessary, have them pulled as closely together as possible.

Checking your own credit report does not affect your scores.

Do try to open a few new accounts if you’ve had credit problems in the past. Pay them on time and don’t max out your credit limits.

The Types of Credit You Use. A mixture of credit cards and installment loans, loans with fixed payments, can help raise your score if you manage the credit cards responsibly.

Having many installment loans can lower your scores since payments remain the same until balances are paid in full.

Don’t open new accounts just to have several accounts or to attempt a better mix of credit. Closing an account doesn’t remove it from your report. It may still be considered for scoring purposes.

Comment from p_busch_nmhu
Time February 8, 2010 at 3:39 am

One way is to continue to pay your bills on time, especially your student loans. If you still have those credit cards keep them open, but try and only use them for emergencies.

Another option could be to find a debt/credit repair program and ask them for ideas and options to help improve your score.

I too wish someone explained the importance of credit in my younger years too.

Comment from moviegoer_j
Time February 8, 2010 at 4:08 am

Use your credit card like cash. Only charge the things you would normally spend cash on anyway. Then pay off your bill every month. That way you build credit, avoid interest and fees, and, if you have a rewards card, enjoy the rewards that the card pays *you*.

To quickly see which card will pay you the most rewards for your normal spending, check out the rewards calculator at http://www.creditcardtuneup.com/ . A couple of the better rewards cards for college students are the Citi mtvU card and the Citi Driver’s Edge for College Students.

Comment from Pravda
Time February 8, 2010 at 4:26 am

Yeah, I can relate to that too! You could repair your credit score yourself at http://www.thecreditrepairmanual.com