Keep your score blemish free

This article is the archived version of a report that appeared in July 2009 Consumer Reports magazine.

While you're improving your credit score, make sure you don't do things that might sabotage your efforts. Pay your bills on time. Late payments on all kinds of bills, not just your credit-card bill, can lower your score. If you have difficulty paying bills on time, have them paid automatically through your bank's Web site.

Don't open too many credit cards, but don't close a line of credit before paying it off, or close many cards at once, which can temporarily ding your credit score by raising your debt-to-credit ratio. And because 15 percent of your credit score is based on the length of your credit history, try not to close your oldest accounts. If your credit line is cut, avoid opening new accounts to increase your available credit unless necessary because that approach could backfire and actually lower your credit score.