Help Me Improve My Credit

Other than your Social Security number, your credit score might be the most important number you possess. A low credit score can negatively affect your life in a number of ways -- the interest rate you can get on a home mortgage, what type of credit cards you are eligible to carry, even the type of job you can land -- so you'll want the best score possible. If you are saddled with a low credit score or want to improve your existing score, there are ways to increase that number.

Build Credit

Your credit history is an important part of your credit score: If you don't have any history, your score will suffer. To get started on the right path, open up an account with a credit card company or with a bank offering a secured credit card. According to MSN Money, good alternatives can be found at lending institutions such as Citi, Orchard Bank and Public Savings Bank. You don't have to carry a balance to build a credit but you should use the card once or twice to show lenders that you have the ability to incur debt and pay off your debts just as quickly.

Resolve Credit Card Debt

The opposite of having no credit history is having too much credit card debt. An important variable in determining your credit score is the amount of debt you are carrying. According to MSN Money, paying off or paying down your debt on revolving credit -- such as credit cards -- can help raise your credit score. When evaluating credit risks, many lenders look at how much available credit you have on each card. Red flags are raised when those percentages are above 30 percent of the available credit, so paying down the debt should be a major priority.

Curb Your Spending

Your spending habits, especially when it comes to revolving credit, can get you in trouble, too. Even if you pay off all your bills each month, if you are racking up massive bills that are pushing your debt near the limit of your credit cards' available balances, then you need to change those habits. Your credit score, according to "The Washington Post," is greatly influenced by the amount of available credit you have at your disposal. If you are constantly spending to the limits of that credit, your score will suffer. Raising that score means paying down the debt and maintaining balances between 10 and 30 percent of the available credit -- a move that requires you to alter your spending habits but could pay off by raising your score by 70 points or more.

Argue Errors

Errors happen and, when they happen with factors that could lower your credit score, you have an obligation to yourself to report those instances. Typical errors, according to MSN Money, are issues such as late payment and collection notices that do not belong to you, reported balances that are lower than they actually are and open debt that has actually been closed. These mistakes can greatly affect your score, so you'll want to get them rectified and off your books.