What Should My Credit Score Be – What Hurts Your Credit Score

In order for you to enjoy a financially stable life, you credit score should be good. This means that your credit score should be high enough to qualify you for loans and competitive interest rates. There are several things that can hurt your credit score severely. Here are some of them.
Never use your debit card when renting a car. Car companies have the right to pull down your credit score once you fail to use your credit card to avail their service. This may be a little strange because cash is definitely better than having a credit balance. However, for car companies, a credit card serves as insurance in case something happens to the care you rented. If you do not use your credit card, the company may think that you have a low credit score and that you cannot be trusted that much. They may send some inquiries and some points may be subtracted from your credit score. 
Never say yes to stores offering credit cards. If you want to keep your credit rating good, you should never be tempted to get a department store credit card. No matter how much discount you can get from your first purchase, it does not delete the fact that the interest rates are much higher than the regular credit cards you get from banks and other financial institutions. In addition, you may get an inquiry as to why you are purchasing a credit card. This inquiry can make you lose some points on your credit score which can range from 5 to 35 points depending on your current credit rating. 
Never buy furniture using the merchant’s financing system. A home loan is the will keep your credit score better than a credit card. However, there are some loans that are even worse than credit cards. An example of this is the financing system of a local merchant. This can hurt your credit score a whole lot because such financing methods are seen as the last resort. This means that when you purchase such deal, the credit companies will think that you have no other choice because you have no other means of financing or paying for the furniture you bought. 
Never allow your credit company to not report your credit limits. Reporting credit limits is very important especially if you want to have a better credit rating. It is the duty of every credit card company to send reports to the big credit reporting agencies. The reports should include the credit limit, credit history and the payment history of the credit card owner. However, some credit card companies fail to fulfill this responsibility and the backfire is on you. FICO has its way of calculating your credit score. Your credit limit is usually necessary in order to compute the scores. If you do not have a credit limit reported to them, it will be difficult for them to determine your current credit rating. When this happens, your credit rating might suffer a lot. Although it is the credit card’s responsibility to send reports, it is also your duty as a consumer to make sure that they are doing their job.