Pay your bills.
I know that will fix it.
Shoot me a message if you need any more help.

Yes, pay your bills. Try to pay the ones with the highest interest rates first, to save money over the long run. Once you have paid your cards off, determine which are "extra" cards that you don't really need (ie department store cards) and cancel your accounts. I believe your credit score is higher when it is not spread all over the place. The fewer cards you have, the higher your score will be so long as they are paid off on time. Do all this, and your credit score should improve.

I deal with good and bad credit in my profession. There are many things that factor into your credit rating. You do not want to have many credit cards (too many accounts with balances). Also, if your balance is half or higher of the credit limit (excessive amounts owed on accounts) that pulls your score down. Money stores are a bad place to get credit. Never be late on a mortgage. I'm not sure what financial circumstances brought you where you are. I don't know if this helps at all. I could go on and on, but......

Pay with everything in cash. Credit will fix itself, however, I've found the more credit cards I have, I get myself in trouble. So if I can't pay for it in cash, I can't get it.

My advice would be to if you have a wallmart in your area apply for a wallmart credjt card and get a computer through that way. Hope it helps.

It is a very good idea to request a credit report once a year from the Three major credit bureaus. Sometimes mistakes are made. It also helps you evaluate where you may be lacking and if you need to close some accounts.

They dont only look at open accounts with balances but if you have open accounts with no balance they consider that available credit to you. I would strongly advise that you close any accounts not in use to minimize credit availability.

If you have any account with a 30 day past due payment reported, it takes one year of "on time" payments to bring your score up. The general rule is "one year" of good credit standing with all open debt that you have.

I assume you are not talking about having filed bankruptcy. If that is the case, it can take much longer to acquire credit.

You have a right to ask Dell why they are rejecting your application for credit. That may also help you determine where your problem is.

I know this is difficult, but to be honest, if you are already struggling financially, the last thing you should do is take on more debt. The more debt you have, the lower your score. If you need to acquire credit for an emergency you will not be able to if you have too much "open" debt.

I dont know if you realize this, but your insurance company that holds your car or home insurance now has the right to raise your premiums based on your credit score. At least they do here. That is just one of the reasons it is so important to try to keep debt under control and pay bills on time.

I hope this helps. Best of luck with all of it.

Look for a non-profit credit counseling agency, it's free...

I agree that getting your credit report is the BEST way to know what you are dealing with and where the trouble is.Also I did not know this until recently but if you carry on any kind of business where they check your credit or if a company even checks your credit on their own w/o you knowing to see if you qualify for pre approved credit offers some companies look at that too.They apparently look unfavorably at ppl who may be out fishing for credit in alot of different areas.When you get a report you can see WHO has requested your credit score .We found this out over the summer when we found out someone had given the wrong info to the unemployment commission and used my hubbys SS #.We thought it best to get the reports to see if anything was amiss.Thank goodness nothing was but we saw where there were alot of places that had requested our credit info that we did not generate and in checking that out we found out this info.

Some quick fixes:

First, you need to take a lookie at your credit report right away. You can get a free one once per year at www.annualcreditreport.com

Second, there may be many things on your report that you can get rid of that can increase your score - such as "aged accounts" which means that if the negative info (such as collection account or later payments) is older than 7 years you are entitled to have it removed from your report. You must do this either online or in writing to each of the credit bureaus that is reporting the old item. Triple the work, but worth it as it can make your score jump. It usually takes those lazy asses at least 6 weeks to update your score, so be patient. Make sure you check back to see if they've done it. Usually they don't, and you have to keep on their backs about it.

Third, pay down or pay off your balances. If you have the cash to do it. The less you owe on your credit card, the more credit you have and the bigger a credit score you get. Your score will jump in a month or so.

Fourth, if you do not have a lot of credit cards or if you've only had credit cards for a short time, apply for new ones. Don't charge up a storm on these new cards. Don't use them at all if you can. These cards are for display only, so to speak. Keep them in your sock drawer, that's what I do. But it will increase your amount of available credit (which remember will increase your credit score in turn). Never close accounts even if you don't use the card! Keep all the cards you are approved for, and keep the balances below 35% of your maximum credit line. The longer you have a card in good standing, the higher your credit score (this is called your credit history).

Fifth, if you review your credit reports and see no errors or old accounts or inaccuracies, then you can go to a company that fixes credit scores. Beware, as many of them suck. I can personally recommend www.lexingtonlaw.com (I get no kickback, this is not an ad for this company in any way) I used them myself for 2 years. My score when I first started was 498. It is now 725. They were like $50 a month, but well well worth it. I just saved over $2000 in finance charges this year by opening up new 0% fixed cards and transfering my balances. Without my decent credit score, I wouldn't have been able to. This company will deliver, but it will take a few months for your scores to start to jump.

Long Haul Fixes:
Basically paying your bills on time month after month is the way. Even one late payment can screw with your credit score. A collection account could take 50 points or more off your score. Late payments are after 30 days past the due date. So even if you wake up and say Oh Shit this was due 2 weeks ago, don't sweat it. Call the company or go online and pay it that day and you will most likely avoid a late payment report on your credit.

Whew. That's all I can think of right now, but message me with any questions, I've been through this and know my way around. It CAN be done, but needs patience. There are few way to jump your score in a month, most take a bit longer.