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Your bad credit will cause you no end of trouble and stress, but it's not the end. As hopeless as things may seem, bad credit won't last forever. You can do several things to improve your credit starting right now.

1. Stop using your credit cards.
If you already have bad credit, one of the worst things you can do is continue accumulating debt by continuing to use your cards. Don't purchase anything unless you can pay cash for it.

2. Obtain a copy of your credit report.
Get a copy of your credit report. You can go to http://www.annualcreditreport.com to learn how to obtain your copies free of charge.

3. Fix mistakes in your credit report.
Contact all three credit bureaus to fix any mistakes contained in your reports. Dispute anything you feel is wrong or out of the ordinary. Make sure to keep an eye out for negative entries that don't belong to you.

4. Pay up any late accounts.
Getting up to date on any past due accounts will have a great impact on your credit.Your payment history makes up 35% of your credit score.

5. Stop filling out those darn credit applications.
While your trying to enhance your credit don't fill out any more credit card or loan applications. More applications will harm your credit score and while your credit is still damaged your more likely to be rejected any way.

6. Don't be hastey in closing older accounts.
You should go ahead and close any gas or store charge cards you have, however don't hurry to close your mainline credit cards like Visa or Mastercard. Paying off the balances will improve your credit, but closing these cards will reduce your availabe credit and hurt your credit score, also the older the account the more your score is helped by the longer history.

7. Pay off debts.
Do what you have to, but get out of debt. This may mean giving up some freedom and taking an additional job, but you must pay off that debt. In the long run you will find your enhaced credit will be well worth it.

8. Call your creditors.
Talk to your creditors about your situation, right now they're certainly the last people you want to talk to, but you'd be surprised at the help they may offer you. Negotiate to lower your monthly payments for a short period of time if possible.