by L L

Created on: April 07, 2010   Last Updated: April 11, 2010

A credit score is a number between 300 and 850 that allows lenders to see how worthy you are of credit. It is a very important number that you should keep as high as possible. Having a high credit score can make your life a lot easier. If you know what is important when it comes to your credit you should have no problem keeping your credit score high. In this article I will tell you things that will hurt your credit score and how to avoid them.

The number one thing that will damage your credit score is having late payments on your report. Late payments make up 35 % of your credit score so it is very important to avoid them. If you do have late payments on your report they will become less severe as time goes on. The next most important thing when it comes to your credit score is your debt to credit ratio. This means keep as much available credit as possible open. Do not max out your credit cards, this will hurt your score a lot.  This makes up 30% of your credit score.

Another thing that could really hurt your credit is applying for a lot of credit cards at one time. The reason this is bad is because it will put hard inquires on your credit report. Every time someone runs your credit report in order to see if you're worthy of credit you get a hard inquiry on your report. Having more than one or two inquires can damage your score. Also, do not close old credit cards. Keep old cards open, even if you no longer use them. The length of your credit history makes up 15% of your score, the longer credit history the better.

Keeping your credit score high is very important and very easy if you take the time to learn about credit. As you can see above there are many ways to hurt your credit so try to avoid these things. To see where you stand when it comes to credit go to www.annualcreditreport.com and get a free copy of your credit report. Then begin to see how you can repair your credit to improve your credit score. It may be overwhelming and it may take time but it is all worth it because good credit is very important and will make your life easier.

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