<prompt> Human: Hi PF!Please see my post about my money situation hereWhen I was 17 I stupidly took out a 700 loan at 33 interest rate with Cash Converters to pay a phone bill because. I had just moved out of home and I was scared to ask my parents for money.I wasnt working a well paying job at the time and I was very depressed about that. I found it hard to keep up with payments and defaulted a number of times before I paid back the money in full after getting about 1500 back on my tax return. Two years after I got a call from debt collectors who said that I had a debt of 1097.00 with Centrelink government support while I studied. Turns out they had been sending correspondence to my old address as I hadnt updated my details due to not needing the payments anymore. I sorted out a payment plan and paid 35 a week and then upped it to 50 per week and paid it off in less than six months. As far as I am aware the Centrelink debt does not affect my credit score.At the moment I just got my licence and I want to but my first car, I am well on my to saving about 1000.00 and I went to apply for a loan of 5000.00 car is around 6000 and I was rejected, twice at two different banks. I have no credit cards, or any existing debts, only prevoius debts that seem to be haunting me.Can anyone shed some light on the situation or give me some tips on how I can improve my credit? Any help would be much appreciated.Thanks so much :Edit: Note about Cash Converters, I took a 700 loan from them, but every time you default on a payment they add 60 to your debt, so I was sinker quicker than I was swimming and when I paid it off after I got my tax refund I paid 990.00 to finalize my account. I will NEVER do anything like that again.  <response>: Can anyone shed some light on the situation or give me some tips on how I can improve my credit? This is going to sound very basic. You need to get a handle on your finances. Do not borrow money you cannot afford to repay, and do not buy a car until you have much more saved up. 