There are several things you can do to improve your FICO score: some are obvious, some not so obvious. It takes a lot longer to repair your credit than it does to ruin it. If you have questionable credit NOW is the time to get going at fixing it. Lenders are looking for long term trends-get one going now.

Improving your FICO score can help you:

• Get better offers for credit

• Lower your interest rates

• Speed up the approval process

• Save You Money

• Perhaps get a better job

Here are the top seven ways to improve your FICO score.

Get a Copy of Your Report and Review. Believe it or not mistakes are made. It is up to you to get them corrected.

Pay Your Bills Timely. This may be the biggest factor of all in determining your score.

Minimize Credit Card Applications. Don't open a lot of accounts at once-spread them out over a year or more. I used to think the more the merrier-WRONG!

Don't Apply for Credit You Don't Need. Every time you apply it shows up on your report.

Keep Balances Low. The magic number seems to be in the 25-30% range of credit used to amount available. So if you have an available limit of $10,000, keep your usage at $2,500-$3,000.

Seriously Reconsider Closing an Account. It is better to use an account very occasionally than close it.

Use Credit Responsibly. It will pay immeasurable dividends for you.

For a single three digit number to have such an enormous impact on your life, it behooves you to keep that score as high as you can get it. It will save you ton of money and maybe even help you get a desirable job. Keep an eye on your score with regular monitoring and use your credit wisely.

Improving your credit score will save you thousands of dollars in interest in your lifetime. Isn't that good enough reason to do it?

Jack Krohn is a leading free lance writer on Home Equity and Mortgage issues with over 50 articles to his credit. He is also the #1 author of Home Security Articles in the country.

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