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Building a good credit score is a long term process. As they say a journey of a thousand miles starts with the first step. Beware of quick fixes. There are none except for the quick fix of getting into your wallet by way of a scam and there are some out there. Here are three sure fire ways to boost your credit score.

The biggest component of the FICO score is the percentage of available credit you are using. The traditional way of course is to pay down your accounts to improve the percentage. The higher the percentage the lower the score. There is another way.

1. ASK FOR CREDIT INCREASES This achieves the same result-decreasing the percentage of credit used. Just be careful not to use the new found "wealth". That is like shooting yourself in the foot. Be careful not to ask for too much of an increase.

2. PAY OFF YOUR BILLS Pay them off not when they are due but before they are due. Find the statement date (usually 20 or so days before the due date) and pay it off a day or so early. That brings your account balance to $0 thus increasing the percentage of available credit. If you pay the bill on the due date it will not have the same effect.

3. DON'T TOSS THOSE OLD CARDS I found out about this one the hard way. If you are not using an old card for any reason do not throw it away. Take advantage of it and charge small amounts occasionally. This results in an active vs. and inactive status for that account. Active accounts are factored into the FICO scoring system-inactive accounts are not.

Using these three hot tips will boost your FICO score almost overnight. Take the knowledge and run with it and improve your score today.