Establishing credit is one of the most important things you can do in order to add stability to your financial record and dramatically increase your ability to borrow necessary funds in order to purchase a new home, new car or even pay for college expenses. Unfortunately credit has two sides to it that consumers can exploit. The good side is very valuable and prevents consumers from having to save for many years in order to afford the finer things in life. The bad or dark side of credit can lead to individuals amassing large amounts of debt they eventually find themselves unable to repay. With this in mind one of the best investments anyone can give himself or herself is the financial knowledge necessary to handle and ultimately use credit wisely.

Before you can begin to establish your credit record you will need to find a lender that will loan you the necessary funds in order to start your credit history. The rates that lenders charge varies depending on the consumer they are loaning funds to but they all look at various types of information in order to initially determine the credit risk or liability an individual may present when looking to obtain funds. This information will include a consumer