Credit: Food

"30 percent of the credit score is based on the total amount of debt you have compared to your available credit." I had closed a few credit cards thinking that I'd consolidate to one card and be more responsible (it's such a pain to remember to pay off 2 or more cards!). While that may have lowered my credit score, the good news is I got rid of a card that charged annual fees. I opened another card that didn't have annual fees so now I have a higher debt to available credit ratio. The keys are to use your cards regularly, pay off your balances on time every time and when possible ask to have your credit limits increased (do all within 14 days because it will count as a credit inquiry which is bad).

I'm also thinking of using the new card to monitor my food expenses. So, all food purchases go on that card and we'll see how much a spend in a month and how I can shrink that amount over the next few months.

Update: I called both my cards and got the limit raised on one. We'll see about the other one. Boo, they raised only about $1000. Cheap bastards.