About Today: What You Don't Know About Your Credit Score

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Today The credit score: It's one of the most important numbers in your financial life, and many people have no idea how it works. Fortunately for us, About.com Credit/Debt expert LaToya Irby is on the case. What does and doesn't hurt your credit score? How can you get it for free? And how can you repair it? The answers might surprise you. What Affects Your Credit Score? Most people understand that certain bad behaviors -- being late on a credit card payment, for instance, or defaulting on a loan -- will ding your score. But the truth is that there's a whole range of actions that can hurt your personal credit rating, including seemingly innocuous actions like applying for a lot of credit cards or spending too close to your credit limit. Here are some of the money moves that might be hurting your credit score. Opening a New Credit Card Can Hurt Your Credit ....And So Can Closing a Credit Card No, Getting Married Doesn't Hurt Your Credit Search Related Topics:  making credit card payments  closing credit accounts  what's in a credit score Just How Many Credit Scores Do You Have, Anyway? People tend to talk to about their "credit score." But it's really more accurate to talk about credit scores, plural. See, there are three main credit bureaus, each with their own scores. And different lenders will use scores from different bureaus, so you want to make sure that all three are looking good. Here's a basic primer on all the different credit scores that define your financial world. Some People Don't Have a Credit Score At All Your Credit Score and the Lender's Will Probably Be Different Lenders Look At More Than Just Credit Scores Search Related Topics:  what's in a credit score  credit scores  3-in-1 credit scores How to Get Your Credit Score(s) Okay, so you've got a bunch of credit scores, and they're clearly pretty important. Obviously you'll want to get a hold of them, partly to see if there are any errors and partly to see where you stand and what you need to do better. There's a lot of confusing information out there about where you can get your credit scores, so we've listed the websites that will actually give you your credit scores and reports for free. Your Credit Score Could Be Different Tomorrow How to Get Your Free Score With No Credit Card or Subscription Everything You Need to Know About Your FICO Score Search Related Topics:  3-in-1 credit scores  ordering a credit score  free credit scores How Can You Repair Your Score? So you've obtained your credit scores, and they're not looking so hot. That, unfortunately, can seriously impact your ability to get loans and credit cards at reasonable rates. The good news is that bad credit isn't forever. It won't happen overnight, but here's how to start rebuilding and repairing your credit. 10 Things You Can Do Today to Improve Your Credit Score How Long Does It Take Your Credit Score to Improve? What is a Good Credit Score, Anyway? Search Related Topics:  building good credit  the right way to use credit  credit repair Related Searches Credit Score Check Credit Report Repair Bad Credit Card Rebuild Your Credit Home Mortgage Credit Featured Articles Follow About.com Money on Facebook! Being Turned Down Won't Hurt Your Credit Score How to Get a Credit Card With a Bad Score 8 Bad Decisions That Can Lead to Credit Issues How Your Credit Score Can Affect Insurance Rates 7 Reasons It's So Hard to Pay Off Debt   More from About.com Sign-up for Shareables! An every-morning rundown of the day in history, headlines and trends produced by your pals at About.com. Please sign up it's free (of course), we think you will like it! Want More From About.com Check out our social page tailored to your interest!   Sign up for more free newsletters on your favorite topics You are receiving this newsletter because you subscribed to the About.com Today newsletter. If you wish to change your email address or unsubscribe, please click here. If you would like to unsubscribe from all newsletters sent from About.com, please send an email to optout@about.com with "Unsubscribe" as the subject line. About.com respects your privacy: Our Privacy Policy Contact Information: 1500 Broadway, 6th Floor New York, NY, 10036 © 2014 About.com     Follow us on: Advertisement