One last thing on credit history--what's good for it and what's bad for it? Let's break it down in the final post on credit history! (Hopefully you aren't bored out of your mind by now--beauty and fashion posts will be up tomorrow!)

What Hurts Your Credit Score

1. Late Payments or Not Paying at All: 35% of your credit score is your payment history.
2. Having an Account Charged Off: If you don't pay your credit card, they will charge off your account, which means the creditor has declared that the money will never be collected.
3. Maxing Out Your Credit Card: 30% of your credit score is your debt to your available credit ratio. Try to keep your card balance as low as possible.
4. Eliminating Your Oldest Credit Card: 15% of your credit score is your credit history. However, be cautious on this one--if your oldest card has a high interest rate, an annual fee, or if you just don't think you can handle a credit card--cancel it.

What Improves Your Credit Score

1. Paying Your Bills on Time.
2. Keeping balances low.
3. Don't always closed unused accounts, a zero balance may help your score. (Refer to the acception to this rule on number four above.)
4. Get a Goodwill Adjustment. If you've been a good customer, ask your lender to remove that one late payment.

[Source: MSN Money, Get Credit Healthy]