Hey everyone. Welcome back to episode 968 of Money Girl. I really appreciate you being here,

spending some time with me. I'm Laura Adams, an award-winning author, on-camera spokesperson,

money speaker, and founder of the Money Stack, that's my substack newsletter.

Free subscribers automatically receive my money success toolkit, which includes the exact

templates I use to manage my finances. You can learn more, ask questions, and sign up for

the money stack for free at laura d adams.com or you can leave a voice

message with your question or comment by calling 302-364-0308 i'd love to feature your question on

finance friday that's our weekly q&A bonus edition of the show.

I want you to imagine that you and a friend are both shopping for the exact same car,

and you both get approved for an auto loan for the same amount. But your friend's monthly payment

is $50 less than yours. What gives? Well, the difference comes down to your

credit scores. This podcast will review why great credit is essential for healthy finances and how to

build your scores. We'll cover seven tips to build credit whether you're starting from

scratch, recovering from a credit hardship, or just want a credit boost. You probably know what

credit scores are, but I'll do just a brief summary here. They are typically three-digit numbers,

ranging from something like 300 up to 850. And the higher your score, the more credit

worthy you appear to lenders and various merchants. It's like a financial report card that's

a snapshot of your current risk. For instance, having low credit scores typically makes a lender

believe you're a high risk to them

because you're more likely not to pay them on time. But high credit scores tell the world that

you're financially responsible are a low risk and will likely pay what you owe on time.

There are many different credit scoring models. Therefore, you have

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