You want good credit:
1- pay bills when the come in never late
2-open 4 credit cards with at least 25k each, put 3 away and use the one that gives u most awards all the time. Pay it in full every month,these 4 cards should be your oldest(member since). Close all Other credit cards especially dept stores.
3-pay cash for your car, if you can't make double payments or pay extra on a separate check as much as you can
4- buy a house
credit scores are a composite of payment history (i.e make your payments on time) and length of credit history (which is why someone with a 20 year history will have higher scores than someone with a 2 year credit history - with both having a perfect payment history)
cards with no activity ever or within the most recent 12-24 month period won't do you any good. You'd be better off using each of those cards at least one time every 12 months then never using 3 out of the 4 cards. Personally I think a VISA or MC + an AMEX is all you need. Credit scores will improve based on the lenght of time of your credit history + good payment history
I agree with paying cash for a car but it does nothing to help your credit so if one is trying to establish a credit history it would be better to finance the car and then pay it off within 12-24 months if possible
My personal advice is to NEVER get store cards from Macys, Nordstrom, etc.. They all have absolutly shitty administration of payment/statement processing. If you buy something at, for example Macys, used your regular credit card and pay it off the next month
Use your credit card but pay it off each month and if you must carry a balance try to keep it at less than 35% of the credit limit. Credit utilization > than 35% will start to have a negative impact on your scores
