What can you do to increase that set of three numbers on your credit report that can be so important with your financing?

I came across this question as I was surfing discussion groups the other day. Check out my answer:

Dear Friend,

Here are 3 steps I used to take my credit score from 592 (horrible credit) to 762 (perfect credit) almost overnight. If youre interested in improving your credit rating quickly, youll find this story helpful:

In 1995 I made a decision that would ruin my perfect credit history. I quit my salary job to become an insurance salesman. The job paid commission only. Within a few months I lost everything house, car, credit rating and my self respect.

By the end of 1996 I was living with my mom, all my credit accounts were severely past due, and I was paying 22% interest on a broke-down green Geo StormI was a real loser.

Then, in 1997, I became a banker. I didnt know it at the time, but this would turn out to be the break I needed to eliminate my credit problems forever.

During my seven years as a banker, I came across several legal and highly effective ways to improve my credit rating. As a result, I was able to increase my credit scores by an average of 170 points.

Heres what I did:

Step #1:
After spending hundreds of dollars on credit repair services that didnt work, I found out how to get negative accounts removed on my own.

Basically, I wrote letters to the collection agencies requesting proof that the accounts were mine. 89% of the time they had no proof that the bad accounts belonged to me. So I was able to get them deleted from my credit file.

Step #2:
I opened new accounts with high credit limits and kept the balances low.

I discovered that if you keep your available credit limits high and only use 10% to 30% of the credit you have available, your credit score will improve dramatically.

Step #3:
Next, I added accounts with years of perfect payment history to my credit file. This step took my credit score from 647 to 762.

While you can certainly add seasoned accounts to your credit file for free, there are companies that claim they can do it for a fee.

The problem is, they charge between $2,000 and $2,500 per account. If you want a 700+ credit score youll need 3 to 4 of these accounts. That equates to a cost of $6,000 to $10,000.

(You can conduct a search on your favorite search engine for companies that offer this service.)

While there are several highly effective steps you can take to increase your credit scores by as much as 200 points, these are the main onesAnd heres the good news: Each step can be completed in less than 30 days.