If you want to whip up a credit catastrophe, miss a payment.
On-time payments account for 35 percent of your credit score. It is the biggest single chunk of the score and it can cost your score 100 points. If you have a high credit score, it could cost you 180 points, according to Lending Tree. The easiest way to never make a mistake is to set up automatic payments.
Other ways to devastate your score: Default on a loan or file for bankruptcy.
Defaulting on a loan usually happens after 90 days without a payment. By the time you hit default, however, your score has already taken a 200 point drop at 30 and 60 days late.
With bankruptcy, you can expect a drop of at least 240 points.