7 Tips for Improving Your Credit Score

The road to good credit is not as hard as you think.

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Give Yourself Some Credit - Everyone knows that having tip top credit is key to some of the biggest rites of passage in life, such as buying a car, purchasing your first home and even landing your dream job. But getting there is another matter entirely. These tips can help push your FICO score beyond the national average, 692, and save you thousands of dollars in the long run. Get started now. By Kenrya Rankin Naasel (Photo: Blend Images/Hill Street Studios/Getty Images)By Kenrya Rankin Naasel

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Order your credit reports. - Twenty-five percent of consumers have found errors on theirs, so it’s important to check yours for inaccuracies that could negatively impact your score. Get all three of your reports (from Experian, TransUnion and Equifax) for free at AnnualCreditReport.com. (Photo: Getty Images) 

Budget Well - Access to a corporate card isn’t license to go nuts; use it as frugally as you’d use your own. Try to put all business-related charges (meals, taxi rides, gas if you rent a car, client drinks, etc.) on the card to make it easier to reconcile your expenses at the end of the month. To make the most out of your travel, sign up for any offered rewards programs — points can add up to free travel and perks. (Photo: Jim Bourg /Landov)

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Get a credit card. - Not a fan of plastic? Too bad — get one anyway. Then use it responsibly, paying off your balance each month, to create positive entries on your report. Note, we said “one”: between the required lenders’ inquiries and changes to your total spending and credit limit, overdoing it could have the opposite impact. (Photo: REUTERS/Jim Bourg /Landov)

Lower Your Credit Card Interest Rate - Lowering your interest rate on your credit cards can be as easy as a nice demeanor and a phone call. If you have a $5,000 balance, even a 3 percent rate reduction saves you $150 a year. (Photo: Fuse/Getty Images)

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Pay your bills on time. - Your payment history accounts for 35% of your FICO score. So even if you've had some late payments in the past, it’s crucial that moving forward, you make payments on time for all accounts that are reported to credit agencies. (Photo: Fuse/Getty Images)

Money Matters - While you’re in the cleaning spirit, you may want to do a little financial fixing as well. Start by evaluating your debt, expenses and budget with the help of Mint.com, a financial app that keeps your money matters in one place. It’s free, super easy and low maintenance. (Photo: JGI/Jamie Grill/Getty Images)

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Pay down credit card balances. - A full 30% of your score is determined by the ratio of the amount of money you owe versus the amount of credit you have available. So tackle your high balance credit cards as quickly as possible. A good rule of thumb is to keep balances below a third of the total available; for example, if you have a $3,000 spending limit, don’t carry a balance of more than $1,000. Even better, keep it below 10% and reap a greater boost in your score. (Photo: JGI/Jamie Grill/Getty Images)

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Don’t close accounts. - You just paid your Nordstrom card down to zero and vowed to never use it again. Yay! But don’t close the account; you’ll reduce the total credit you have available and jack up your balance-to-limit ratio. Plus, the longer you have a card, the better it looks, so it's a good thing to let it hang around on your credit report. Keep the account active by making a small purchase every few months and immediately paying the balance. (Photo: GettyImages)

Money Matters - They’re at the top of their game and the top of Forbes magazine’s most recent rankings of the 10 highest-earning NBA players. While last year’s lockout and shortened NBA season ate in to players’ paychecks, the following 10 ballers still managed to rake in the dough in terms of total earnings (salary, plus endorsements) this past season.—Britt Middleton (Photo: Mark Scott/Getty Images)

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Double up. - Creditors typically report the balance on your loan or card on a particular day each month. But if you wait until your due date to make a payment, that number likely will not reflect your contribution, which means you will appear to carry more debt than you really do. Limit the impact: make two small payments each month, rather than one at month’s end. (Photo: GettyImages)

24 - The number of people who experience domestic abuse every single minute in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC).  (Photo: Win McNamee/Getty Images)

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Sit tight. - Some things, like multiple inquiries into your credit or past late payments, can only be cleared from your account over time. Just work hard not to add any negative elements to your report while you wait for them to be removed. Inquiries take two years to go away, delinquencies last for seven and some bankruptcies and unpaid tax liens will haunt you for ten years. (Photo: Win McNamee/Getty Images)