It is probably not a news alert to you that you need to keep your credit as clean as possible, since a good credit report is widely used these days. A good credit score can help you to get the most favorable loan programs and interest rates on anything from department store credit cards to new car loans and mortgages. When you are applying for a new job somewhere, a good credit score can be the deciding factor as to whether or not they offer you the job. And recently, your credit score is being used by car insurance companies to determine your car insurance premiums, with the thought being that someone with good credit is more fiscally responsible and therefore less likely to be filing claims.

A good credit report and good credit history takes work to create and maintain, but not so much work as to become a burden to you if you can develop and maintain good credit usage habits.

The most obvious credit tip is to pay your balance in full every month. Even with a very good interest rate, there is no sense in paying interest on something if you can afford to pay it off and keep that interest money in your pocket. Some people think that it's only like $5 for my balance. But do the math a?? that $5 times 10 credit cards, times 12 months is $600 over the course of a year!

Do not be dazzled by the incredible rate that a new credit card is offering, because chances are that the very low interest rate is only a teaser rate that will expire in a few months. If you can make use of the card and the low interest rate for a temporary period of time, then you can save money there, but be aware of when that teaser interest rate expires and the real astronomical interest rate kicks in, at which point it is time to make sure that account has a zero balance or to close the account.

Did you know that credit cards actually have two separate interest rates? They have one that is assessed on your outstanding balance, and they have another one that is applied if you use the credit card for a cash advance. Never use your credit card for a cash advance, because those interest rates are typically truly obscene, usually being 25% or even more. And when you make payments on your credit card, those payments go against the balance first before they start paying back the cash advance, so the cash advance is the last thing paid off, allowing the credit card company to make the most amount of interest from you.

If you carry a balance forward from month to month instead of paying off your card in full every month, try to keep your outstanding balance below 30% of your credit limit. Doing so in conjunction with timely payments will result in a good credit report on that card, but if your outstanding balance is more than 30% of your credit limit, then you start getting credit score deductions.

Never pay just the minimum payment. Pay more than the minimum, because if you pay only the minimum payment due, this will maximize the amount of interest that the credit card company will collect from you.

The best thing, above all, that you can do is to make sure that you make all your payments on time. If you mail them in, allow time for the mail to arrive and for your payment to be posted to your account. If for example your payment is due on the 10th, having your payment arrive on the 10th may not help you since it needs to be processed and it may take a day or two for the payment to get posted to your account. This also allows the credit card company to charge you a late fee.