Your credit is very important. While it may seem not to matter in your day to day life, the moment you need to buy a big purchase like a car or a house, or even just apply for a new credit card, your credit score can save you a lot of money… or cost you just as much.

The higher your score, the better. A low score can lead to everything from increased interest rates on credit cards and loans to being denied loans altogether. But fortunately, there are a number of ways you can raise your score, or simply keep it high if it’s already good.

First off, pay all your bills on time. A history of delinquent payments will hurt your credit score more than anything else. And the shorter your credit history is, the more a single late or missed payment can bring the whole thing down. Just as being late to pay bills lowers your score, paying bills on time and consistently will raise it. But it takes a lot longer to raise your credit score in this manner than to lower it. So be careful, and keep a close eye on those bills, whether it’s a minimum payment on your credit card, your monthly internet bill, or even just a parking ticket. If you can help it at all, never, ever let a bill go to collections, because that will be a black mark on your credit report for a long time.

Also, don’t let your debt get out of hand. Having a small balance on a credit card or two won’t hurt you, and if consistently paid off will actually help your score, but owing more money than you conceivably have to multiple creditors will reflect badly on you. This is generally good advice anyway, but it’s particularly relevant to raising your credit score. If you can afford it, paying off all your debts will help your credit score, and at least making the minimum payments is a must.

So basically, pay off your bills and try to keep yourself out of debt. If you’re thinking of applying for a loan soon and your credit isn’t all that great, it will probably pay off to wait on applying for that loan until you’ve spent some time trying to improve your credit. And if you really, really need help, and can afford it, hiring a credit counselor is a good way to raise your score rapidly. But hopefully, just by following these common sense guidelines… and not falling on particularly hard times… you should be able to keep your credit score healthy and high. Good luck.