Maintain A Low Credit Card Balance According to the Fair Isaac Corporation or FICO credit scoring system, having a low credit balance as compared to the amount of credit you re authorized, helps to make you a good credit risk. For instance, if you had a $60,000 credit limit on your credit card, and you ve only so far used $6,000, or 10% of the credit limit, your balance must never go up to as much as 30 percent of your card s credit limit. Timely payments make for happy credit card owners, while late or missed credit card payments are an exercise in futility, and paves the way for your constant haranguing by collection agencies, and also cuts deep wounds in your credit score. Avoid Getting Extra Credit Cards If you can live with just one credit card, then by all means remain happy with only one card at your disposal. Always make it a habit to pay on time, and according to most credit experts, paying your bills on time does wonders in getting a handsome credit score. While most creditors won t report late payments made at 30 days, once it reaches 60 to 90 days, a borrower will certainly get reported. If you ve made late payments before, relax and don t worry, since over time those infractions will slowly diminish, and you ll get back your old credit score. Get a Credit Card, And Pay Your Balance On Time To get started in building up a nice credit score, get a credit card, but remember to only start out with one credit card for the moment. Remember that the more credit cards you have, the more debt you'll end up with. You need to be responsible with one credit, before you insist on applying for a second or third credit card. 5 A Loan Company Can, For A Small Fee, Fix Your Credit Score Credit bureaus can t do anything to soften up or alter your credit score, especially if it s filled with lots of information about you not handling your debts well. The only way to improve or enhance your credit report, is by showing that you can handle your debt load well in the future. Never Do Loan Shopping Whenever you continually shop for loans, or submit to as many lenders within just two weeks, your credit score will surely suffer a major drop. Try to do a cluster of loan inquiries within a proper period of time, like one every two weeks, so that your credit score remains strong, and won't have to suffer major drops in credibility with lenders.