Actively trying to maintain an A1 credit rating is like a balancing act where you have to keep your eyes on the ball at all times. When it comes to retaining an excellent credit rating, many people seem to be blissfully unaware of existing dangers until it’s too late. A lot of people don’t even give their credit score a single thought when they try to apply for a credit card or loan. This is indeed lamentable!

Having a bad credit rating however is not the end of the world. What people need to realise is that once the inevitable happens, it is time sit down, put on your thinking cap and look for a solution, which is usually readily available. There are in fact many things you can do (or not do) to improve your credit score or maintain an excellent one:

· Maintain a sparkling repayment history. Paying up on your loan or credit card on time accounts for around 35% of your credit score. You have to ensure that your payments reach your creditors on or before the due date, ALL the time!

· Make regular payments on your loans even if it’s only the minimum payment. Defaulting on a loan or credit card payment even once is a huge crime as far as lenders are concerned! Once you start defaulting, your credit status begins its downward plummet.

· Not spending your agreed credit balance (maybe because of fear of falling into debt) is also not very healthy for you. The credit card companies gave you your credit card for only one purpose - to spend it! Preserving high balances on your card does not present a positive image of you in spite of what you might think.

· Spending every available credit on your card also is quite bad for your credit record. At most aim to spend between 70-80% of your total credit balance. Spending every red cent on your credit card is one of the worst crimes you can ever commit against your card!

· Never ever exceed your credit limit! Doing so is a blatant act of financial irresponsibility as far as the money people are concerned.

· Whatever you do, ensure that your account is not passed on to a debt collection agency. If you allow this to happen, you have surely crossed the line and must be punished. You will surely pay a high price - a ruined credit history.

· If for any reason you are having difficulty making a payment, it is advisable you get in touch with your creditors ahead of time to inform them of your situation. A negative report could still be filed but it would not look as bad as if you just decide not to pay and choose to keep quiet about it too.

· Do not get yourself into a situation where the courts will pass judgement on you for none payment of your debt. This will make it almost impossible for you to obtain credit again in future as it will surely damage your credit score.

· Home foreclosures also take a big toll on your credit status. So try at all cost to protect your home and not get it repossessed if you have used it at one point in time as security for a secured loan.

· Filing for bankruptcy also is not credit score friendly. So if you possibly can, avoid it as this will stay on your records for a long time and you are required by law to admit your bankruptcy status anytime you apply for new credit or even a job. This admission, ninety-nine percent of the time, will guarantee a refusal of your application.

However bad you think your credit score is though, there are always ways for you to make it better. One solution which other people with bad credit score have been trying for some time now is obtaining one of those prepaid credit cards and start using it actively. This goes a long way in helping to repair their bad credit.

Whichever way you look at it however, I do believe that prevention is better than cure. Preventing yourself from falling into bad credit debt is a lot better than the pain and amount of time it will take you to repair a damaged one. Keep making regular payments on your accounts even if it’s the minimum, ensure that your payments are not late, don’t overuse or abuse your credit in any way and never ever exceed your credit limit. If you keep doing this every time, you should have no problem enjoying and maintaining an A1 credit rating.

Join Benjamin Afolabi to discover proven steps to get out of debt, stay out of debt, and live debt free. For comprehensive debt and refinance tips and excellent financial guides, visit his website: http://www.debtlegion.com Also download his free report - Debt Management - Your Step-By-Step Guide To Getting Out Of Debt from http://www.debtflag.com