What is credit history?

One of the things you might hear about a lot when you try to apply for a credit card or loan is how your "credit history" will affect your eligibility. But you might not know what that means.

In short, credit history basically means how you've handled every type of credit you've ever had in your name. That means every credit card, every auto loan, every student loan, and so on. If you've largely been good about paying your bills on time and in full, and don't have any massive outstanding debts, your credit history is probably in pretty good shape.

But, if you've made some missteps - as so many borrowers have - you might want to take as many steps as possible to correct them, including making all future bill payments on time and reducing debt as quickly as possible. Taking these steps and improving your money management will put you on much better financial ground sooner or later.