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Your credit score is the biggest (if not one of the biggest) factor that will determine whether or not you will be able to get a loan. Your credit score can have such a huge impact that it can make or break your chances of getting that dream car or house. It can dictate how much security deposit you have to put down when renting, and it can also determine the interest rate that you'll have on your loans and credit cards.

As powerful as it is though, not everyone is fully aware of the ins and outs of their credit score. In fact, according to a survey from CouponCabin.com, nearly 50% of adults in the US don't know their credit score. Don't be one of these people. It's important that you recognize the importance of your credit score, and inform yourself about how to increase it.

This post will show you how to do just that. Below are a couple of common questions surrounding credit scores as well as some resources that can give your more information.

What is a credit score?

A credit score is a number that represents yours creditworthiness. The score factors in a number of things including your credit balances, number of accounts, and timeliness of payments, etc, and it basically summarizes how much debt you have and how often you make payments (and if you pay on time.) Your credit score is used by lenders (such as landlords, banks, and dealerships) to determine your loan amount, security deposit, or interest rate. The higher your credit score is, the more creditworthy you are, so aim to have a stellar score at all times. Needless to say, a low credit score could indicate that you may not be creditworthy and this could prevent you from getting a good interest rate or loan.

What factors can affect your credit score?

One of the biggest things that could impact your score is how timely your payments are. A single late payment on your credit card or car loan could cause your score to plummet, so always mark your calendar to ensure that you don't miss your payments.

The balance that you owe can also affect your credit score. Avoid racking up too much debt especially on your revolving accounts (i.e. credit cards), and try to keep your balances low. Try not to exceed 50% of the credit limit, as this could negatively affect your score as well. So for instance, if you have a credit limit of $1000.00, try not to incur a balance of $500 or higher.

The amount of time that you've had an account also has an impact on your score. The older your credit history is, the better. Avoid cancelling your credit cards (unless it's for a good reason such as an annual fee) and resist the urge to open too many new accounts too soon, as this could have a negative impact on your credit score.

To get further information about your credit score and to find more ways on how you can improve it, check out the following resources below:

Resources

Score Basics - Experian's page on consumer credit score basics

Five Things to Boost your Creditworthiness in 2013 - A great blog post from Equifax

Credit Education - TransUnion's resource page for consumers.

What is a credit score and why does it matter? - An article from Duke University that informs students about the importance of credit scores.

What Is Your Credit Score? - An informative article that gives an overview of what credit scores are all about.

Know your FICO scores, improve your FICO scores, save money - MyFICO.com demystifies credit scoring and credit reports

Resource Center - Credit articles from FreeCreditScore.com

Understanding & Improving Your Credit Score - A post to help consumers understand and increase their credit scores

Credit Reports and Credit Scores - Popular credit score resources from MoneyManagement.org

Top 5 ways to build your credit score in college (and beyond!) - Geared towards students, this article offers tips on how to improve their credit scores

Credit Scores - USA.gov - Resource page about credit scores by answers.usa.gov

How Credit Scores Affect the Price of Credit and Insurance A post by the Federal Trade Commission that discusses the link of credit scores and price of credit and insurance

Improving your credit score - 5 tips to boost your credit score by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System

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