Repairing your credit - CNN.com

Repairing your credit - CNN.com: "When it comes to calculating your credit score, your payment history is one of the biggest factors. So, keep making payments on time. Automate your bills online if it will help you avoid late fees. Even if you've made a few late payments, you can still re-establish a good credit score. The older the negative information, the less it counts against you.

'It may be tempting, but don't close old credit card accounts if you want to improve your credit score,' says John Ulzheimer of Credit.com.

Your score also takes into account the difference between what credit is available to you and the amount you're using. If you shut down credit card accounts, the total amount of your available credit is lowered and your balances look much larger in comparison. This ratio then hurts your score.

Ideally your purchases should be within 10% of your credit limit, said Ulzheimer.

For example, if your credit limit is $6,000, don't charge more than $600."