Utilities do nothing for your credit, they can only hurt it.
As far as establishing credit, the key is (in order)
- Length of credit history (the longer the better)
- pay on time every month.
- show you can carry a small balance and make payments on time( no
card company wants to see you pay off your debt every month, other
than showing your you can pay it doesn't prove your finacially
responsible)
- more than one credit account in good standing, a few but not to many
- if you have a card with a zero balance for more than 6moths close the
account it ain't doing shit for you. It could lead to a creditor claiming your credit is
over extended, yes you could have to much credit
- check your credit report every year for inconsistencies and/or mistakes
So the best thing to do it is start kinda like you have, just work on paying off that best buys card now, don't , I'll repeat don't charge any moe on that card untill you have paid it off to the point were you wouldn't have a problem making payments if you lost your job.
Department stores and gas cards are the best place to start, they have the highest interest rates but you've got to start somewhere.
Also don't go nuts appling for every credit card offer you get, the more you try the more inquires you get from creditors on your credit report and that's bad as well it lowers your credit score. If you apply for something and get denied like you did for the $1,500 loan wait at least 3 months before pply for another loan or credit card.
The range of credit scores is from 350-850
That's about all I can remember from my experiences, as I have gone from a credit score of about 700, down to 540, back up to a 690 (took almost 5 years to recover my credit score) so don't fuck it up.
As far as a mortgage anything below a credit score or 680 is going to kill you.
a rating of 700 and up is considered perfect credit. If you're higher than that great but I'd say it'll top out at about 750ish, nobody has an 850 nobody. it's kinda like school no one ever gets an A+ in every subject.
Good luck.