Having good credit is essential today to help you in your financial life, and all aspects of your life. If you have bad credit, you pay more for large items like mortgages, auto loans, but you may not know it affects other areas, such as insurance premiums, how much you pay for deposits on utilities when you move, and can even prevent you from getting the job you want. Bad credit is something you definitely want to avoid.

How do you keep from having bad credit? There are a few simple things you can do to keep this from happening. Of course, the first is to make sure that you pay all your bills by the due date, if possible, but at least try to pay within the first thirty days after the due date. If your payment goes over thirty to sixty days, it may be reported to the credit bureaus, which you definitely want to avoid.

If you do have trouble paying within the due date, make sure you let your creditors know, and try to work with them to adjust your payment schedule until you are back on track. This will show them you are serious about keeping your obligations, and may keep them from reporting your situation to the credit bureaus.

Be aware of your credit score. You can request a credit report for yourself once or twice a year, and it will not count against your credit. This will let you know if there is a problem with identity fraud, or if there are fraudulent or incorrect charges on your credit before it becomes a huge problem.

Don't overextend yourself, and be cautious about the number of credit cards you apply for. Generally, the more times someone checks your credit, whether you asked them to or not, the lower your score, so you need to only apply for the credit you need.

To summarize, avoiding bad credit is not easy, but it is very possible, and can be done if you are careful. If you use credit wisely, it will reward you.

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