What is credit? Your credit—or credit rating or credit score—is a record that shows whether you have (re)paid folks reliably and on time.

Why is it important? Because how you’ve paid people in the past also reflects your ability to pay on debts in the future.

Who cares about it? Landlords, employers, lenders (car dealers, banks, credit card companies), phone companies, utilities: anyone who’s loaning you money or providing a resource/service and expecting regular payments.

Where does that info come from? Companies called credit agencies track your debt and your payment history and issue a credit score summarizing their assessment of your credit. Scores range from 300 to 850 (higher is better.)

Cultivating good credit history can get you better interest rates on loans and credit cards—and conversely, bad credit can mean you don’t qualify for these kind of things at all.

Many students start with a low credit score because they have little credit history. That changes when you get more financially independent, like by having bank accounts or paying bills in your name.

Start building a good history now to help raise your credit score.

The absolute #1 way to do that: pay your bills on time!

(And in case you’re wondering, making the minimum payment on your credit counts, as long as it’s on time!)

Want to take it to the next level, or need to improve your credit ASAP? Learn more ways to build credit using the great articles here and here.

If you have debt—like car payments, a credit card balance, or student loans—you have lots of company. But some types of debt are better than others. For example, they affect your credit rating differently, and lower interest rates can save you tons of money.

Understanding types of debt helps you make smart choices and hang onto your hard-earned cash.

When you need to borrow money, look for:

• low interest rates (not high) to pay less overall
• fixed rates (not variable) to avoid abrupt spikes
• long-term payoff, like student loans, so you get the $ back.

Read more here.

Debt stress keeping you up at night? You’re not alone! It’s really common.

First, breathe.

Then make a plan. Just knowing what you’ll do helps.

Start with these 5 steps. (You can also learn more about repaying student loans here.)

By law, you’re entitled to a free credit report every year from each of the 3 main credit agencies (Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion). Get them by going to annualcreditreport.com.

There are 2 reasons to do this:

1. it’s not at all uncommon for your credit report to have errors, and you’ll want to get them fixed! Find out how here.
2. it’s helpful to see what information these companies are collecting about you