Few financial figures are as important as a credit scores. The three-digit figure has a major impact on daily life — dictating what consumers can buy, how much credit they can obtain and even where they choose to reside.

Your credit score report can be affect by more than your available credit history. We talk about how credit cards, mortgages, car loans, and any type of loan that reports to all 3 credit bureaus will affect your credit score. We don’t always talk about utility companies and how they can have a negative impact on your credit report. Here are utility companies I like to consider non-creditors. In other words these companies don’t give you a line credit, they just provide a service.

Citi is another credit card that is offering free credit scores in the latest financial institution perks to give customers free credit scores through the FICO Open Access program, FICO announced, making it the largest participant in the program that will be available to more than 60 million consumers in 2015.

It’s important to note that repairing bad credit takes time and there is no quick way to fix a credit score. In fact, out of all of the ways to improve a credit score, quick-fix efforts are the most likely to backfire, so beware of any advice that claims to improve your credit score fast.

How many credit cards should you have for a good credit score? If you’re one of those people who holds up the line at stores because you’re trying to figure out which of your 10 credit cards to pay with, it may be time to do some consolidating.