Rebuilding your credit can be a great technique to take control of your future. Face it - to live in todays world, you need access to credit, and you need it cheap. Unfortunately, lots of people have ruined their credit because of hard times or bad decisions when they were young. Theres still time, however, to put things right, no matter how far in the hole you are.

First, you should pay off the debts you have now. Begin making regular payments on all your debts, no matter how small - this will often keep the creditors from reporting you as delinquent, and you can usually work something out with them. At this point, theyve probably written you off anyway, so they have nothing to lose. Dont sacrifice to the point that youre living in a hovel with fleas, but do tighten your belt.

Second, you should get new credit, and make sure youre making small monthly payments. Dont go wild - you just need to keep a few hundred dollars in debt outstanding each month. Pay the fees, and dont spend any more money. Youll gradually pay it off, and build your credit in the process.

Third, if you have any old debts you never paid off, repay them on the condition that it gets reported to the credit agencies. This will please your old creditors and make you look good to anyone considering you in the future - theyll at least see that youre making an effort.

Finally, dont do the things that got you that badly into debt in the first place. No payday loans, no heavy borrowing - live within your means, and stay there.