Credit Tips... part 1

Here are a couple credit tips for you!
1. Payment History - The Most Important Category
Pay your bills on time and don't have a history of late payments, collections, public records, etc. The more incidents of credit transgressions, the more your score will suffer. And if you have recent negative information that will punish your scores more than if they are several years old.

2. Debt
While your installment debt (auto loans and mortgages) are factored into your scores, it's really your credit card debt that's most important. The balances that you carry on your credit cards can affect your scores almost as much as whether or not you make your payments on time.