As a recent MBA grad at the University of Tampa, Mackenzie Hayden knows the importance of a good credit score.

“If you want to buy a house or an engagement ring, they search for credit scores to make sure you can pay it off,” laughed Hayden.

One of the worst things you can do to your credit score is not pay your bills on time.

“My bills are paid automatically every month. So I do that on purpose to make sure I don’t miss anything or skip something,” Hayden said.

And that’s a smart move for those who are able to do that. Timely payments make up a whopping 35 percent of your credit score.

But a credit score killer is having a high debt to credit ratio. The amount of credit you are using accounts for 30-percent of your credit score. It is important not to max out your credit.

And while many enjoy them, store credit cards can be awfully tempting, especially when they offer perks like 10-percent off your purchase. But beware, every time you apply for a store credit card, your credit score drops by up to 30-points.

Another thing to be aware of is divorce, which can hurt your credit, something that Matt Pittard experienced.

“Things get thrown on your credit that were necessarily under her name. She didn’t pay it. It went under my name,” he recalled about what happened with his ex-wife.

And it is good to check your credit report for mistakes. Some people do it once every three to four months. You can get a free copy of your credit report from each of the three credit bureaus every year.

But be sure to spread them out. Get one every quarter. And don’t ignore mistakes you find, because that’s another credit score killer.