If you haven’t started playing the FICO game yet, here are 10 little-known credit cheats that will help you get to the next credit level. There’s one score that follows you around for life — your credit score!

When an individual gets into a serious accident or incurs a large sum of medical bills from an illness, it can be hard to repay the debts before the hospital turns the debts over to a collection agency. Once the debts are at a collection agency, they are placed as line items on that individual’s credit report.

Your credit score or FICO is very important as you are defined by this ever changing number attached to your name. It can affect your ability to get a loan, your chance of getting a job and even increase the interest rate you pay.

There are a wide variety of myths floating around about what you should and shouldn’t do to improve your credit reports and credit scores.

Wells Fargo bank announced Wednesday it will be offering free credit scores and credit reports to all of its customers through November 16, 2014 — you can get these scores by obtaining a personal access code from a Wells Fargo branch. The bank also has provided some credit management tips on its website as part of the promotion. Wells Fargo also offered free credit reports and credit scores in 2013 and 2012.