I monitor my credit scores regularly. When I needed more credit, I made an effort to improve my credit score before I applied for new credit.

My husband and I have a few joint credit card accounts. Our balances on these joint credit accounts are reported to credit bureaus for each of us. So these balances affect both of our credit scores.

We modified our credit usage so that more of the balances we carry are on individual accounts, and less of the balances are on joint accounts. My husband is now carrying one of the balances on his individual account instead of on our joint account. This increased my credit score, and helped me get an approval and good terms when I applied for new credit.

The change in account balances didn't hurt my husband's credit scores because the balance that was now on his individual account was already being reported against him when we were carrying it on our joint account.