Story Published: Oct 20, 2008 at 6:38 PM MDT
Story Updated: Dec 18, 2008 at 4:01 PM MDT
Credit cards, bills, it's a never ending cycle.
But how can you keep swiping, but not damage you score.
"If you have a 30 percent debt to total available credit then that becomes a problem, " says Matt Porter, a financial professional at Cornerstone Financial Group.
A problem that can't be fixed overnight.
"If something gets reported to a collective agency or some agency group after you get that bill, that can stay on your credit score for up to 7 years," says Porter.
In order to avoid that mess, the most important thing you can do is, watch those deadlines.
"if you miss a payment, your gonna see a significant drop in your credit score especially if its over 30 days. As long as paying bills expect a high score," says Porter.
Scores range from 300 to 850 points.
"If somewhere between 620 and above, your gonna get a decent rate, if it's above 680 that's considered premium," says Porter.
In fact, expect to get the best rates.
To find your credit score, just go online to Annual Credit Report.com, and click away. Once a year you can get a list of what your report consists of for free. But to find what your actual score is, you'll need to pay up. One that site, it's about seven bucks.
"Average you're gonna see is 680, maybe a little less, over 700 doing well, you can buy a house," says Porter.
"Except I need the money, and that's a different story," says Araksya Karapetyan.
Aside from making payments on time, your credit score also consists of:
the number of accounts you have open, the balances on those accounts, your payment history, and the length of your credit history.
"If your consistently making your payments and paying down your debt your score will raise," says Porter.
Your score isn't set in stone, if it's low, you can bring it up..it'll just take some time.But in the end, it's worth it because the higher the score, the better chance you have to get that loan for that house or car, you've had your eye on.