Credit Score Lesson

There are many things in our world that you can be deprived of if you don't have a good credit score, and a lot of money can be saved by having a good one. Your credit score is a number that based on statistical analysis of your credit files determines your creditworthiness or really your likelihood of paying the bills. The three major credit bureaus are Experian, TransUnion, and Equifax. Experian uses PLUS score, TransUnion is simply TransUnion's credit score, and Equifax is ScorePower. You are entitled to one free report from each of these credit bureaus once every year; however, not the actual individual score is free.
So how do you improve your credit score? Well, after you've check the reports for mistakes and discrepancies, here are the biggest things that positively affect your score:
1. Paying your bills on time and in full.
2. Using 25% or less of your available credit.
3. Steady employment. May not be completely in your control, but employed people are viewed as being better able to pay their bills on time, which does make sense.
4. Length of time you have been building credit; the longer it has been, the higher the score.

How is your credit score negatively impacted? Here are the biggest factors:
1. Late or missed payments.
2. Using more than 80% of your total amount of available credit.
3. Bankruptcy.
4. Liens or foreclosures.
5. Periods of unemployment.
6. Too many requests for new lines of credit.
7. Too many inquiries into your credit report.