Bad Credit Score

What does a bad credit score mean to you?

A lower credit score can keep you from getting a job, renting an apartment or getting car insurance. Plus, it can drive up interest rates on other credit cards or loans, and ultimately make it more difficult to pay off a debt.

If your credit-card interest rate jumped from 14 percent up to 28 percent and you made just the minimum payment each month, it could take 101 years and $30,165 in interest to pay off a $2,400 balance.

Tips for raising your credit score:

• Do your rate shopping within a focused period of time.
• Re-establish your credit history if you have had problems.
• Opening new accounts responsibly and paying them off on time will raise your score in the long term.
• If you have been managing credit for a short time, don't open a lot of new accounts too quickly.
• Keep balances low on credit cards and other "revolving credit."
• Don't open new credit cards that you don't need just to increase available credit.
• Note that closing an account does not make it go away.