Most of the time, we kind of just assume we have an idea of what our respective credit scores are. But the truth is we only find out when we really need to. That’s great for the time. But if someone actually wanted to maintain or life their score, doing it blindly isn’t the most effective way. You get three credit reports a year. My advice is to space them out over the year and don’t just use them in preparation for applying for a loan or buying a car. Use this data to maintain your score. It shouldn’t be an afterthought until its needed.

Here’s the breakdown. The great lies in the 700+ range. Then there’s the good. That one ranges from 699 to 680. The okay is in the 679 to 620 range. You aren’t going to be denied here, but the terms could get a little hairy. 619 to 580 makes you a bank brokers new best friend. This is the start of the bad. Here they are gonna kill you with expensive loans and get fat off hefty commissions. This still isn’t the ugly. The ugly starts at 579 and goes to 500. This means your credit reeks. If they offer you a loan here chances are you shouldn’t take it anyway. It will kill you in the long run. Then there’s the 499 and below. Here you may as well put a brown paper bag on your head with eye holes. No financial institution will look at you or your jaded score.

The credit score is prepared by taking into consideration payment history (35% of the rating); length of credit history (15%); new credit (10%); types of credit used (10%); and debt (30%). Income is never taken into account. A credit score isn’t the same thing as a credit report. The report is a detailed snapshot of your credit history used to show potential lenders the type of creditor you are. The information shown there is used to assign you that number: the credit score.

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