Maintaining your Good Credit Score- You may not realize you are hurting your score.

Maintaining your Good Credit Score- You may not realize you are hurting your score. 

Credit scores count for a lot these days. Whether renting or purchasing a home, a vehicle, applying for a loan, insurance, etc. your credit score could help or hurt you financially. Once your credit score has taken a dive it is often hard to bring it back up, but by following these rules you could see a significant change.

1.) Pay your bills on time. This seems like a no brainier but falling behind on your bills could impact your score. Even a small bill from your doctor’s office could end up on your credit report if it goes unpaid.
 2.) Keep your credit card balances low. This one is often misunderstood. Be sure to keep your balance within 30% of your credit limit to maintain a good score. Even if you pay the bill off in full each month, if you go over your 30% this will affect your credit.
 3.) Manage your debt. Don’t go overboard with applying for credit cards. The more you have, the more debt follows. Having too much debt can lower your score.
 4.) Don’t close old credit cards. Now this rule is confusing to many. When you close a credit card, the issuer no longer sends reports to the credit bureaus. If you maintained good standing with a card for years, once closed this will no longer show on your credit score. The credit scoring formula places less weight on inactive accounts.
 5.) Limit your applications for new credit. Every time you apply for credit, whether it be credit cards or loans, your credit score takes a small hit. Be sure to only open credit cards sparingly not too often or it could drop your score by 10%.
 6.) Watch your credit report. Identity theft and credit card fraud can wreak havoc on your credit report and be very difficult to correct. Checking your report throughout the year will helps you detect any mistakes much sooner than if not.