The number one question I get is, "How do I raise my credit score?"  Its a really simple answer but it can be hard to accomplish in real life.  Let’s start with the basics.  Fico is the company who came up with the scoring criteria to which your score is based on.  The three credit bureaus supply your data to Fico and your score is established.  Your score is always changing and several key points can affect it.  I could talk for days on each single item that might affect your score but I will try to focus on the main ones.  According to statistics, 35% of your score is derived from your payment history.  Obviously if you miss payments, your score goes down.  The longer you make your payments on time, the better your score..  The next 30% of the FICO score calculation is how much you owe against your available credit limits.  This is found by dividing your balances by your credit limits.  The higher your balances, the lower your score.  As a general practice, you should never exceed half of your available balances for any length of time.  The next 15% of the FICO score calculation is your credit history.   This looks at the average age of your accounts and the age of your oldest account.  The longer your history the better.  The last 20% of your score calculation is figured on credit mix, and applications for credit.  Let’s start with credit mix; you don't want to have all credit cards, or all finance accounts.  You need a good mix of installment and revolving accounts.  Lastly, concerning applications for credit, this is self explanatory.  Obviously if you go out trying to get several accounts at once your credit score will go down.

Having said all that, "how do you raise your score?"  The best way to raise your score is pay on time.  Never allow yourself to go over 30 days late.  Several other great ways are; keep your balances low on your credit cards, only apply for credit that you really need, and never allow collection accounts such as medical bills to be put on your credit report.  You can also find tons of information on our website www.goodcreditfile.com dealing with credit scores.  I also want to give you an important tool to use.  I found this on a Fico company website.  You can enter your information and different scenarios, and it will give you a projected credit score.  Click on the following link and it will take you there.

http://www.bankrate.com/calculators/credit-score-fico-calculator.aspx