The Best Way to Improve Your Credit Score

Here's another item on Money magazine's list of 25 rules to grow rich by. Today's tip lists the best way to improve your credit score:

The best way to improve your credit score is to pay bills on time and to borrow no more than 30% of your available credit. It also helps to pay off debt rather than moving it around because the ratio of your credit card balance to your credit limit is key.

And why would you want to boost your credit score? Well, if you're borrowing money, a good credit score can get you a loan at a preferred rate. But even if you don't need a loan, a good credit score can still save you thousands of dollars.

For a couple other thoughts on how to boost your credit score, see Boost Your Credit Score and Nine Steps to a Great Credit Score -- Save Yourself Thousands of Dollars.

Comments

[moneysmartlife]

When we went to buy our house my wife had no credit history at all, which killed the rates available to us. After that experience we used a simple way to build up her rating.

We bought a $1000, 12 month CD from our bank, then used it as collateral on a secured loan for $1000 at the same bank. We setup the payments so they'd be paid automatically every month. After a year she finally had a positive credit history.

[Eric G.]

No hassle by Capital One! Yeah right.
Nice to see their credit policy screwing up peoples credit scores.
http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Banking/YourCreditRating/WeirdStuffThatHurtsYourCredit.aspx?GT1=8790