<prompt> Human: I just checked my credit score as Im hoping to get a car within the next few months. I keep seeing pretty nice deals on cars on approved credit. I didnt think mine was high, but just wasnt sure where I was on the scale. I had a secured card in the past that I let go in my young and dumb days in my earlier 20s. I dont have anything to my name such as a car or mortgage. I want to get my score up to something thats considered approved credit by auto dealers as I feel like Id just be laughed at if I walked into a dealership right now.So far this year, Ive made over 40k, and anticipate that Ill pull in just over 60k total by the end of the year. my highest year yet! Ive always been a just buy it with cash kind of guy. But, the realization that credit is important is sinking into me now. I plan on dropping 300 for a secured card and working with that keeping under 30 and paying on time. Other than that, are there other ways to help raise my score? If I got 2 secured cards and worked with those, would that help anything or is that just a dumb idea? As I mentioned before, Ive always been a cash kind of person. Credit is still a alien concept to me as I never took it seriously and fucked it off in my past. :EDIT:Current Debts:Credit Card Debt: 0Other Debts: 230My old secured card has 94 debt and 6 late payments on it from almost 2 years ago according to this site.The other is 136 sent to collections by ATT.  <response>: So youve only ever had two secured cards and decided to simply not pay them off? I probably dont need to tell you this was bad decision, especially about this little money. If I were you, Id try to fix it.. call each of those companies, offer to pay in full and ask what they can do to clear your slate.Meanwhile, its highly unlikely that youll get a loan. Its not just the score, but also the fact that you havent paid back any of your loans even if its only 2, and little money. Youll probably have to buy your car with cash if you need it soon. 