As most of you know, credit scores range from 300 to 850, and lenders place a significant amount of weight on the score when making lending decisions. Consumers that score over 700 are typically charged lower rates than normal, while those under 600 are charged higher than normal rates.

If you haven't seen a copy of your credit report and score, you can obtain one free of charge once a year (email me for details).

If you do follow your credit closely, you'd probably be interested in the following tips for keeping your score at or above par, even if you're not in a position to pay off debt right now.

• pay bills on-time ... sounds simple, but it's not always. The credit bureaus allow you a "30-day grace period" to pay, but if your bills are more than 30 days late, your credit will be damaged
  
• keep balances low on credit cards ... even if you have to open a new card and "share" your total balance, lenders like to see that you have an outstanding balance at or below 30% of your limit
  
• don't open too many new accounts ... I know I just told you to open new ones, but you don't want to if you can help it. The "average account age" is important in proving to the credit bureaus that you're a seasoned borrower ... a new account will lower your average age
  
• don't ever close an account ... it's great to pay the balance down to $0, but don't close the account. If the account is closed, it's removed from your active record. But, if you have a $0 balance on a card with a $10,000 limit, your golden in the lenders eyes

If you would like more info on how to obtain your credit score, of if you'd like advice on how to raise your score, please email or call me anytime.