Without a credit score of at least 700, it’s hard to finance anything. For the most part, if not entirely, it’s never really a good idea to finance anything with a credit card anyway. Your focus should be on larger purchases, as building your credit should be in conjunction with building your nest egg. You already have an emergency fund for smaller unexpected expenses, right?

If not, you definitely want your savings growing at the same time you are building your credit. Relying upon your credit during difficult times is asking for trouble. How you manage your credit cards has much to do with what your credit score looks like. There are certainly other factors, but let’s talk credit cards for a minute.

First of all, you need two of them. It’s best not to just go with one, and you certainly don’t need three, four, five, six or well, you get the picture. Two main credit cards with well-known financial institutions happens to be the ideal situation. The next thing you need to know is that you don’t want to carry any balances.

If you do carry a balance, keep it under 30 percent of the credit limit. You also want to make your payments on time, all of them. Making even some late payments can hinder your credit score and push you down. It takes awhile to establish a track record, and you want that record to be squeaky clean if at all possible. So make your payments on time, even if it’s just the minimum.

Now of course you want to pay more than just the minimum payment. You also want to establish a long credit history with each financial institution. That is why it is so important to make wise decisions as to whom you do business with. What credit cards do you have?

Make sure that you handle all other aspects of your credit responsibly, too. You want to make all loan payments on time, and you don’t want to overextend yourself. Are you prepared to take better control of your credit history? Get that credit score to 700 and beyond. The more that is available to you, the more you’re going to have to do to stay in control of your credit. You can’t go haywire when you have access to good credit, or you are going to see your score trending downward for sure.