Released: July 11, 2006

Five ways to destroy your credit

Source: By David Ellis, CNNMoney.com

Taking a wrecking ball to your credit rating is probably best likened to striking a match and burning all of the cash in your wallet. The concept is simple: a bad credit rating means higher interest rates and ultimately less savings for you.

Consumers have the right to obtain a free copy of their credit report every year from each major credit agency by visiting www.annualcreditreport.com or by calling 877-322-8228. But you will still have to pay a fee to get your scores.

Your credit score, or your FICO score, ranges from the worst possible score of a 300 to a perfect 850, and is determined by such factors as paying your bills on-time, the amount of money you owe as well as the length of your credit history, according to the company Fair Isaac, which runs the scoring system.

But even if you are one of those individuals who is diligent about maintaining your good credit standing, it is still possible that with a few simple missteps you could send your credit score into a tailspin faster than you can say delinquency.

So while closing out those credit card accounts you don’t use or rolling over all your outstanding debt to one card may seem like sensible moves, you might actually be killing your credit rating. The easiest way to lower your credit score is through delinquent payments or by skipping out on a bill altogether.

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