1. Set a Target
Shoot for having three to six months of your regular expenses available for unforeseen emergencies.

2. Make Your Money Work as Hard as You Do
Keep idle cash in an account that pays interest.

3. Slim Down Your Checking
Keep just a little more than you need to pay the bills until your next paycheck, and move the extra to a savings account that pays more interest than your checking account.

4. Put Savings on Autopilot
Set up an automatic monthly transfer into your savings account, and you’ll be surprised how quickly the cash stacks up.

5. Boost Your Rate
Some savings and money market accounts pay competitive interest rates. Get the best deal for your average balance.

6. Say No to Fees
Find checking and savings accounts with no minimum balances and few, if any, nuisance fees.

7. Look for Freebies
Some checking accounts provide free checks. Credit cards often offer rewards. And some banks give cash rebates when you use their debit card. USAA does all three and even offers rewards on debit card purchases.

8. Make Every ATM Your ATM
Find a bank that refunds those pesky ATM fees.

9. Balance That Checkbook Online
Take advantage of banks that show your transactions online. This allows you to balance your account when it’s convenient for you, rather than waiting for your monthly statement in the mail. By viewing your documents online instead of receiving paper statements by mail, you lower your risk of identity theft.

10. Get Overdraft Protection
We’re all human — avoid fees by having overdrafts covered by your credit card or savings account.

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“I never knew when I was going to get approved or rejected,” DaMarcus said. “Most times, I was rejected. I knew I had to fix my credit, I just didn’t know how or if it was even possible.”

Yes it’s possible, according to several bankers, lawyers and financial experts. They say by taking an aggressive approach a person can fix his or her credit within two years.

Keep your spending in check

The trick is avoid future financial problems, and sticking to a budget. The WaMu personal planning center suggest spending at least two months writing down every expenditure, and at the end of each month compare your total expenses with your income.

“If you’re overspending, you have to cut back or find more income,” the center advised. “As best you can, plan how you’ll spend your money each month.”

Know what’s in your credit report

You are also going to need to order a copy of your credit report to determine what’s inaccurate or out of date, and then request that the credit bureaus fix the information. Everyone is allowed at least one free credit report each year. To order your free report, go to www.annualcreditreport.com, and either order your report directly or download a form to mail in your request. You can also call 877-322-8228.

You are also entitled to one free copy of your credit report each year under any of the following circumstances:

• You’ve been denied credit because of information in your credit report and you request a copy within 60 days of being denied credit.
• You’re unemployed and looking for work.
• You receive public assistance.
• You believe your file contains errors due to fraud or you are (or you think you are) a victim of identity theft.
• You’ve been denied employment (or another adverse employment decision has been made) based in whole or in part on information contained in a credit report.
• Your report has been revised based upon an investigation you requested.

If you’ve already ordered your free report for the year and don’t fit into any of the six circumstances, you can still order a report from websites like freecreditreport.com.

Look over the report and try to bolster the negative information with some positive ones. Send copies of recent statements and copies of canceled checks to credit bureaus to show you pay on time for accounts that might be missing from the report. Also have your employment history, place of residence, phone number and date of birth added to your report. It could help to show a sense of stability.

Pay as you go

Another way to accelerate the rebuilding process is by having at least three active credit lines open. It’s true that it takes credit to build credit. Car loans and mortgages go a long way to rebuilding credit. However, if that’s out of reach try getting a store card or gas card. They are easier to get than major credit cards. You can also consider getting a cosigner or applying for a secure credit card. Websites like AccountNow and All-Access make it easy.

Finally use the credit you obtain monthly. It doesn’t help if it’s sitting in your wallet. Make small purchases and pay them off to avoid interest charges.

The experts say by following these steps, within two years a person can repair their credit to the point they won’t be turned down for a major credit card or loan, and in about four years qualify for a mortgage.

That’s good news for DaMarcus. “At least, I know it’s not hopeless,” she said. “I just have to try.”

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When you live on a budget, you know penny for penny what you spent that $100 on. In fact you will find by spending less than you earn your debt disappears.

That’s because the first step to getting out of debt is setting a personal budget, and you start to set a budget by tracking your expenses.

Keep a daily log of everything you spend. Get a little notebook and carry it with you. Every time you buy something, write it down, penny for penny in your notebook.

For those who want something a little more high tech and savvy, use home budgeting software like Mvelopes. It tracks your spending electronically as it happens.

By writing down all your expenditures, you begin to see where your money goes, what you are spending it on and why.

You might discover you spend $5,000 annually on eating out. At which point you will have to make a decision. Do you want to continue spending money on eating out, or do you want that dream vacation. Living on a budget comes to decisions like this day by day — the leather jacket or the phone bill.

Once you track your spending habit, it’s time to track your income. How much money do you have coming in? What is your gross monthly income? This shouldn’t include a bonus or overtime pay, but include any source of income that you can rely on – your salary, a part time income or interest from a savings account.

Finding hidden savings

Now add up the cost of your basic needs. This includes anything from the light bill to gas money. The key is to see if your monthly expenditures are more than your monthly income. If it is, you have a problem, and it’s time to cut expenses. Go back to tracking your spending and look for luxuries you can cut back on or not do all together. Try buying store brands instead of name brand products, as well as used items. Also look at those credit cards. If you must use a credit card, choose that card wisely. Use a card that gives back to you, like a no-fee card with a rewards program.

Another important aspect of living on a budget is making sure to pay yourself first. Establish a savings account and have part of your paycheck automatically go into it. This could be used for unexpected emergencies. Also consider doing the same for a retirement account. The whole idea is take care of you first and being prepared should the worse happen.

Finally, the key and must important aspect to living on a budget is sticking to it. If you don’t have it, don’t spend it. A couple of tricks to staying true to the budget is only carry the amount of cash you would need and setting up a secondary account to pay those basic bills.

Once you get paid, immediately transfer the money for the bills into the secondary checking account. Don’t procrastinate. It could derail you. The idea is that once the money is into a separate account, you won’t see it and it will be easier to avoid spending it.

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