There are just a few rules of thumb to follow when it comes to your credit. Do these at all times and you’ll live the easy life. Without further delay, here are the Golden Rules for treating your credit:

• Pay ALL your bills on time, EVERY time.
• Keep your overall debt level low.
• Open new accounts responsibly; in other words, don’t open accounts you don’t need. Do you really need that new credit card with the low teaser rate?
• There is no “quick” fix. Don’t try to artificially “bump” up your score within a short period of time.
• Check your Credit Report regularly - at least once or twice a year - to make sure there are no errors, and no surprises. If there are errors, follow through and have them fixed.

Remember: it takes a long time to establish good credit, and pretty easy to ruin it with just one or two late payments. So you must always be vigilant and follow the Golden Rules.

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