You CAN improve your credit! You CAN get better credit! It takes time. Time and effort. But it's worth the effort and the investment of time you'll make in restoring your credit. Answer these questions, and you're well on your way to knowing what to do to fix your own credit report yourself!

Once you correct errors in your credit report, you can raise your FICO credit score. Your credit report determines your creditworthiness and serves as the basis of your credit score. Therefore, it is obvious that there are definitely different questions that your report will pose. Knowing what the correct answers to these questions are will help you start to rebuild your credit. Some of these questions are:

Do you always pay your bills on time?

Paying your bills after their due date is quite possibly the very best way to lower your credit score! It will be affected negatively when you pay late, or have had a bill turned over to a collection agency, have had your truck repossessed, and if or when you declared personal bankruptcy.

How much outstanding debt do you owe?

Lenders evaluate your total debt you have and they compare it to your credit limits. They are trying to figure out if what you owe is close to your credit limit. If so, they might assume that you will overspend and this simple fact could have a horrible effect on your overall credit score. Experts advise that you should keep a low balance on multiple cards rather that a high balance on just one credit card. As a rule of thumb, your average balance should be no more than 30% of your credit limit if you want to keep your credit score as high as possible.

How long have you been using credit?

The number of loans and the number of years you have used credit will also affect your credit score. A flimsy credit history could bring your score down, not because you have poor credit, but because you have no credit! The important thing to remember here is that other factors, such as timely payments and low balances, will help offset a limited use of credit.

Have you applied for new credit recently?

If you've applied for too many new credit card accounts recently, that might very well lower your credit score. But that doesn't mean that you should never look at your own credit report or apply for credit when you absolutely need to do so. Inquiries made by creditors who have previously been given authorization to occassionally peek into your credit report to monitor your account or those credit card marketing firms that always seem to be mailing out "pre-screened" credit offers, are not counted in the final tally. When these firms pull your credit report, you can see their name, but it doesn't count against your credit score.

What kinds of loans do you currently have?

It's been said that owning too many credit card accounts may have a negative effect on your score, though there are some folks who have hundreds of credit cards and track their balances with sophisticated computer programs, shifting one balance to the next zero-interest card month after month. It is wise to remember that if you got a loan from a finance company instead of a regular bank, this may negatively affect your credit score.

You CAN dispute credit entries that contain errors or outdated derogatory information on you. For free samples of letter formats for credit bureau disputes, check the free credit repair guide at FindHow2.com.