When you get your free credit score check online, make sure that you don’t kill your credit score if you do any of these 5 things. Pay attention to these 5 warnings to look out for when you are getting a free credit score check online.

Make sure you get a free credit score check online from ReallyFreeCreditScore.com so that you can go through this list and review your credit report at the same time. Go ahead, click here to get your credit score and we’ll be waiting.

1. The first warning is to make sure you don’t overspend on your credit card.
This is a common rule, but we are talking about credit utilization and not maxing out your credit card. If you have a credit limit of $10,000 for example, and the balance you owe on that card is $5,000. That means your credit utilization is at 50%. You want to keep your credit utilization ratio at 30% or lower. For each percentage you are over, you will get deducted roughly 1 point on your credit score. In this particular scenario, you’ll be deducted 20 points right off the bat. Now if you pay down the balance and keep the credit utilization ratio low, your credit score will readjust itself.

Here is a tip: if you are applying for a mortgage, car loan, or any type of loan, make sure you don’t charge your cards for at least 60 days before you apply for the loan. This will let your credit utilization rate to drop and give you the best interest rates on that loan.

Check to see your credit utilization ratio with a really free credit score. Click here to continue.

The best case scenario when checking your free credit score check online and having a credit card is to pay your credit card balance in full each month or at the very least, keep the credit utilization ratio at 30% or less.

2. Not paying your bills on time can cost you not only in fees but also in the long run.
You may have heard it time and time again, paying your bills late will negatively affect your credit score. But did you know that these delinquencies can stay on your records for years? It’s surprising but true. If you just pay your bill late once or don’t pay it at all, it can stay on your credit report and credit score for years to come. This can affect the way lenders let you borrow money. Even if you are not looking to buy a house or car any time soon, you may need to a few years down the line.

Each one of these late payments, or past delinquencies can drop your credit score up to 20 points or more.

Make sure you don’t have any delinquencies on your account right now.

3. See if you have a healthy number of accounts open and a good amount of credit.
You don’t want to just have one account open and one credit card with a high limit. But on the other hand, you also don’t want to have a high number credit lines open and not being used. A good rule of thumb is to not have more than 10 credit lines open, but if you do just leave it as-is and you don’t have to close it right away. You also don’t want to get a loan just for the sake of improving your credit score. It will improve as time goes on if you keep paying your bills on time.

4. Having too many new credit lines open and not many older ones
The way your credit score works is it looks at your credit history. If you have too many newer credit lines open, lenders do not have a history to look at to assess your risk.

Don’t open too many credit cards at once or close any old credit lines. Just because you don’t use it, doesn’t mean you have to close it. If you have a credit card with an annual fee, call the credit card company to have it changed into a card without an annual fee. This way, you will retain that credit history and not have to pay the annual fee.

5. This last step is very important. Make sure you don’t have any errors on your credit report and score.
The last thing you want is to have someone else’s credit delinquencies assigned to your credit report. These kinds of mix-ups happen all the time so don’t be surprised. Make sure you check your credit score and report at least once a quarter to check on any errors. It’s free to check it and doesn’t hurt your credit score, so why not?

Click here to check your credit score for any wrongly assigned delinquencies and other errors.