<prompt> Human: A thing people mistake about credit is, its about people who can pay it back. Well, yes, but. Thats a really big but.A credit company is in business to make money, of course. It does them no good if you always pay the bills on time. They want you to pay the bills but, they also expect to clip their cut out of it.There are two rules to getting a good credit history, so that theyll be happy to give you more credit.One: have a credit history! There are places that will loan you money at outrageous interest rates, to get you started. Try Fingerhut!Two: use credit! Lightly! They will be somewhat alarmed if you use any substantial amount of what they said theyd be willing to loan you. Still... use what you need, but ALWAYS PAY AT LEAST THE MINIMUM ON TIME.Credit companies love this. It means youre a reliable customer who is making them money. Eventually, you will want to try to avoid using credit but, you establish it by creating a credit history that loses you money, which is fine by them, because thats their business.As you develop a credit history read: have a history of losing money to outlandish interest rates, your credit rating will go up. You will get higher credit levels. Try to use it, but not much: you want to keep losing money to them, so pay them off, but slowly and steadily. This builds credit history.When you have enough credit history, you can switch to new credit sources, which may offer cash-back or other rewards, as well as lower interest rates. Dont cancel your old credit lines, just dont use them any more. The fact that they exist and have existed for a while is a point in your favor within reason: if you have grossly excessive unused credit, that can count against you.I am fond of Credit Karma as a rough check as to how I am doing. You might also try annualcreditreport.com as a free way to grab all of your credit reports from the Big Three credit monitors, but its only free once a year usually, depending, and it can be iffy getting through the verification process, which isnt that bright.  <response>: Bad advice and also wrong. Never carry a balance on an interest-bearing credit account, because it costs money. And it doesnt benefit your credit score in a meaningful way. 