Some of the best reader emails we receive here are also the simplest. Deb wrote in this morning with a question about her credit scores:

I just got my credit score. It was 692. How do I go about improving this score?

Simple question, complex answer (isn&39;t that always true with credit?). The first question I had for Deb is where she got her credit score from. A 692 on the traditional FICO consumer score scale of 350-800 isn&39;t too bad and should be pretty easy to improve. However a 692 on a different credit scoring scale (500-900, 100-900) might represent a much more significant credit problem. It&39;s important to know which credit score you are purchasing and what scale the score is based on.

Assuming that this is a 692 on a traditional scale, Deb should be able to improve it fairly quickly. She&39;s right on the cusp of the 700&39;s and the better rates that range brings. Deb should check her credit report that came along with the score to see what is causing her scores to be low. Here are some common culprits:

• 90+ day late payments from the last 7 years.
• A credit card debt to credit limit ratio above 10%.
• Too many recent applications for credit.
• Old negative records such as collection accounts or bankruptcy filings.
• Not having a good mix of account types.
• A short credit history, possibly caused by recently closing a bunch of old accounts.
• Inaccurate data or signs of identity theft.

It is vital that you "diagnose" the problems with your credit before starting to "cure" them. Just like a doctor who prescribes a medicine without a proper exam, you could end up doing far more harm than good. Once Deb has identified the problems with her credit, she can develop a game plan for targeted improvement in each category. Along with those changes, here are a few things that always help improve your score:

• Paying all your bills on time.
• Keeping your credit card debt to limit ratio around 10%.
• Keeping old accounts open for long periods of time.
• Having a healthy balance of credit card and loan accounts on your report.
• Applying for new credit in moderation.
• Patience.

Deb should be on her way to better credit soon. Have a credit or money question? Send us an email anytime.