Your credit score is probably one of the most important things that you can possibly possess. The textbook definition for a credit score is a number assigned to an individual that indicates to lenders their capacity to repay a loan. In all honesty, this number is probably as important as your social security number. Your credit score is the determining factor if you are able to buy/rent/lease a house, apartment, car, etc. Simple things in your everyday life can effect your credit score positively or negatively.
Things you can do to increase your credit score is to pay credit cards off regularly or at least make your payments consistently without missing a month. Late payments and late fees effect your credit score negatively because this shows lenders that you are not financially responsible. To show you are financially responsible it is wise to keep your credit utilization ratio below 30 percent. That is the ratio of what you use versus what you have to use. That ratio applies to each card individually and all your cards limit totals.
You should begin establishing credit as soon as possible. I started consciously working on my credit score about two years ago. I opened two credit cards to stores. That is probably not the smartest thing to have done but I am very responsible and I definitely stay below my 30% ratio. The next thing I will be working on will be to rid my credit completely of these pain in the butt student loans. So, if you haven’t started establishing credit then you should really hop on it.
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HCXO!