7 Weird Ways to Hurt Your Credit Score

The FICO credit score equation might be a black box, but there have been thousands of articles written about what you should and shouldn't do when it comes to your credit score. Most of them are pretty obvious--pay your credit card bills on time, don't apply for a lot of credit, and keep your nose clean. There are, however, a lot of weird ways you can hurt your score without you even realizing it.

Student Loans And How They Will Affect Your Credit

Heres a breakdown of how taking out student loans will affect your credit score.

Keeping credit score high when you carry big card balances

Even if your credit score is high, issuers may still reject you for a new card if your card balances are near their limit

Credit card balances reduce credit scores

Tracy Becker is a Tarrytown-based credit expert. Tracy Becker is credit industry leader for two decades and president and founder of North Shore Advisory, Inc.,

Understanding your credit score

Paying bills on time, and returning your library books, can improve a key credit number.