Great advice! We deal with this issue so often as well. Or the fact that people think opening a credit card, paying the balance, and the closing it right away will not affect their credit score. It’s a hard lesson for consumers to learn, but an important one.

Thank you for this post. I am amazed at how many people I see and help that are not aware that a balance on their credit cards actually can change their credit score. I hear, “but I’ve never made a late payment.” Sounds like you’ve heard that too. I will be directing some folks to your blog for you easy to understand explanation.