How do I raise my credit score?

I'm standing on about a 600 credit score, which is poor to fair. How do I make this score go up over time? Please, only considerate answers, not answers like "pay your bills".

Public Comments

1. of course pay bills and increase your savings.... it is NOT good to look at credit score... but live in your own means.
2. Pay your balances to at least 49%. That will increase your score. Get rid of anything on your credit report, that does not belong there. That will increase your score. Other than that, it is a gradual increase when you make your payments on time. http://www.ficocounselors.com
3. I would advise you to keep paying your bills on time and keeping your credit cards/lines open while you're paying them, but not charging them more, maybe once in a while, but do not use the whole amount on each card because it looks bad to be up to the limit. If you get a credit card for $500.00 limit, use only $200.00 or $300.00 but not the whole $500.00 and pay more than the minimum payment every month. This has helped me get to 700.
4. Reduce your credit card balances to below 30% of your credit limit (not 50%) and pay everything as agreed. But some furniture and finance it. Make at least 12-payments. There are lot's of 0% for 12-months deals out there, just be sure and pay it off in full in 12-months. Or do the same thing with a vehicle.
5. I am in the process of raising my score. Easy answer, get with a legitimate credit repair company. Some as low as $40 per month. Or do it your self. I have a book on credit repair that gives samples letters to send out. I have an account with Free credit report . com and they actually have a credit illustrator that shows what your credit score is and why. then you can make adjustments in your inquires, collections, defaults and stuff like that to see how they will affect your score. Then refer to the book to see what letters to send to whom to make the appropriate changes. After working on it myself for the past 6 weeks, I realize it would have been worth the time and effort just to go with a professional firm.
6. Without knowing why your score is 600, it might be as simple as making sure your bills are paid. The FICO Score is the most widely used scoring system. Go to http://www.myfico.com They have a lot of information on what makes up your score and what you can do to improve it.
7. Make all of your payments on time. Never borrow over 50% of your credit limit (although keeping your balances at 30% or below is even better for your credit score). Limit the amount of inquiries you have against your credit Have a good blend of credit. For example 2 credit cards, 1 auto loan and 1 student loan is a good blend of credit. 10 credit cards and nothing else is not a good blend of credit Piggyback off of a family or friends credit. Read the credit blog below about building credit and credit scoring to find out more ways.
8. First, it might help to know what makes up your score in order to raise it: 1. Payment history -35% 2. Total debt owed vs. Available credit 30% 3. Length of time establishing credit 15% 4. Types of credit established 10% 5. Inquiries and New accounts 10% Now, having said that, #1 & #2 are the 2 most important factors to your score. Are you paying your bills on time? If not, this will hit your score the hardest, especially delinquent accounts Also, be sure to check your report for any accounts that you may not think that belongs to you and dispute them with the bureaus. The negative payment history alone is toxic to your score. Also, how much credit are you using on your current accounts? The closer you max out your cards, the lower your score will get. A good rule of thumb is to use no more than 25-30% of your available credit on your credit cards at any given time. Next, do you have old accounts that you're not using? If so, it would be a good idea to start using them LIGHTLY. Even though an account can be paid and not used, doesn't necessarily help your score. If there's no activity, then it doesn't report. Closing accounts can actually do more harm than good by decreasing availble credit giving the appearance that more is borrowed than capable because the available credit's decreased, it also limits the payment history for active open accounts, and worst of all, it can shorten the average age of accounts making it look like credit has been established more recently than it has. Next, what kind of accounts do you have open. How many major credit cards and department store cards do you have? Do you have a mortgage? Or a car payment? Are you financing furniture or appliances? An example of a balanced mixture of credit would be 2 major credit cards, a department store card and a car loan, or 3 revolving accounts and 1 installment account. It's important to show that different types of debt can be repaid. Finally, don't go on some big application spree when it comes to credit. Each time you apply, your score is dropped several points whether you're approved or not. And it takes almost a year for your score to recover once the account starts showing payment history. Hopefully, some of these answers will help.