The Wall Street Journal’s Karen Blumenthal recently wrote an article highlighting common misconceptions about credit scores.  We have covered many of these items in previous articles on this site, such as paying off credit cards each month, and how long items stay on your credit report.  She also briefly discusses the variety of different credit scores available to consumers, which is important to know before you spend your money on any scores.  Here is another article with more info on different types of scores.

The Journal article also had a great reminder about the credit score impact from rewards cards.  So many consumers are in the habit of charging everything each month to get as many rewards points as they can.  However, planning a major purchase such as an auto or home loan may require a change in that habit.  Switching to cash for two months before the loan application can result in the credit card being report with zero balance and credit scores should increase.

You can read the full article from the Wall Street Journal and learn more here.