[header] How to maintain your credit rating [title] Use a credit card for everything. [step] It might seem counterintuitive, but people with excellent credit use their credit cards more than most people, and they pay for everything on the card on time all the time. [substeps] The difference is in the way they see the card itself. 
Those with excellent scores think of it as the dominant form of currency, representing the money they have in the bank. People whose scores are only fair often think of the card much differently, as an extravagance to be used sparingly.