YSK: Your credit score comes from just 5 inputs, and two of them

YSK: Your credit score comes from just 5 inputs, and two of them are 65% of the score Payment History is 35%. One thing matters: never 30+ days late. Autopay the minimum on everything, even if you pay the rest manually. This single habit protects the biggest slice. Utilization is 30%. It's your balances divided by your limits, and it has no memory. High utilization this month hurts this month, but drops off the moment you pay down. Two tricks: pay before the statement date (not the due date) so a lower balance gets reported, and ask for limit increases on cards you don't carry balances on. The last three are: length of history (15%), new credit (10%), and mix (10%). Mostly these reward doing nothing: keep old cards open, don't apply for five things in a month. The past nobody told me closing an old card can hurt you twice: shorter history and less total limit, so utilization jumps. Cut it up if you must, but let it stay open. What's the credit myth you believed the longest? Mine was that carrying a small balance "builds credit." It doesn't. It just pays them interest.