You can start improving your credit score right now, so that you can enjoy better jobs, better apartments, and better interest rates on personal loans. Here’s how to get started:

1) Check out our guide to credit repair to learn the basics.

2) Make it easy to pay your bills on time. Paying your bills on time can be one of the fastest and easiest ways to improve your credit score. If you forget or if you are struggling, consider setting up automatic bill payments with your bank so that you do not have to even think about it. If your bills are expensive, find ways to make them more affordable. For example, maybe you can afford to pay your personal loans each month if you get rid of some extra services or subscriptions you don’t need.

3) Don’t let mistakes mar your credit rating. Order your credit reports now from the credit bureaus and carefully go over them to make sure that there are no mistakes. If there are, report them to the bureaus and in a few months double-check to make sure that the mistakes have been fixed.

4) Pay down your personal loans and credit cards. Yes, it may take some time, but it will ensure that you qualify for more than just bad credit loans. Start with your highest-interest personal loans first, such as your payday loans or credit cards. For credit cards and lines of credit, try to maintain a balance of no more than 30% of your credit limit. Having 60% available helps to improve your credit score.