When you’re using a credit card, people often think:

1 – As long as you pay back by the end of the month, you can use the entire amount of money on your credit card.

2 – Or, you can use the entire amount that’s on your credit card as long as you’re paying back month to month at least the minimum amount.

Both are wrong. You never want to use the total amount on your credit card unless it’s an emergency. That’s because there is a factor that comes into play called credit usage that can affect your credit score.

You may think that increasing your credit score is a long laborious process that can take years. That couldn’t be further from the truth. There are certain things you can start doing today to hike up your credit score in no time. The #1 thing you can do is pay down at least 80% on the credit cards you owe. That will immediately increase your score.

That’s because with credit cards one of the main factors is usage. If your usage is too high, it will keep your score hanging low even if you do pay on time every month.

If you are a long-time customer with a credit company and you want to improve your credit, you may be able to make a special request to help you out. There are some cases where a creditor may provide a good-will adjustment for long-time customers. A long-standing customer can request a creditor to forgive a few late payments. If the late payments are forgiven, it can help raise your credit score in 30 days.