I need HELP!!!!!!! Does anyone know what is the best approach to fix bad credit?

You should first review your credit reports and let them know if there are any errors that you can have them remove from your report.

If you owe a lot of money to credit card companies you might be successful trying something that helped me pay of my debts sooner. I chose not to use a debt consolidation service since they usually charge a fee and are not that much help.

I don't know if it will work in today's credit card market but it's worth a try. When I was out of work I called each of the credit card companies and spoke to a manager and explained that I lost my job and I intend to pay off my debts entirely but I could only do that if they would stop charging me interest and I would cut up my card. I payed them every month what I could afford and eventually paid off all my debts. They all sent me a letter thanking me for paying off my debts and I KEPT THE LETTERS (very important if you want to establish a new credit card account).

The reason the card companies agreed to stop the interest and let me pay it off is because if they turned it over to a collection agency they would only get 50% of what I owed, if anything at all. I think they would rather have all the money repaid than none at all.

When I later applied for credit again, even though my credit report looked bad I showed the bank card all the letters I saved which proved I paid off all my debts. That got me a credit card with a small available credit allowance which eventually was raised to a very substantial available credit allowance.

Some important rules to remember to maintain good credit:
1- ALWAYS PAY ALL YOUR BILLS ON TIME. It's easiest to do if you have it automatically deducted from your checking on it's due date. This way your bills are NEVER LATE. Just remember to enter the date and the amount into your check register so you have enough money to cover the auto-deduction. I have a lot of my bills going directly to my credit card which gives me back 1% and then when the credit card bill comes in that gets automatically deducted from my checking. I save on stamps, get back 1% and am never late.

2- ALWAYS PAY THE CREDIT CARD IN FULL. If you only pay part of your bill you will never pay off the balance. Credit cards have the highest interest charges and fees. If you can't pay your bill in full every month than you are charging more than you can afford. Cut out buying more than you can afford. You don't need designer clothing and other extravagant purchases until you can afford to pay for it each month.

3- NEVER LOAN YOUR CARD TO ANYONE. No matter how close you are to someone they will screw you up very badly if they are not responsible people. You are stuck with anything they do on your card. I once let a friend rent a car for a day on my card and the jerk let it get towed from a no parking zone and it ended up costing me $500. Don't be so helpful unless it is a life or death emergency and you can afford being stuck for the bill because you will get stuck, believe me.

4- If you can't get any credit cards try getting a secured credit card where you leave a certain amount in an untouchable bank account for the credit card company in case you don't pay their bill. Of course you will pay it ON TIME AND IN FULL each month so eventually you will have established better credit and eventually you can get back the secured saving deposit that you gave the bank and you will have a normal credit card.

5- Be a responsible consumer. Don't buy what you can't afford. Bring you own coffee to work every day in a thermos. Those fancy lattes end up costing you thousands of dollars a year (after tax money). Don't smoke or do drugs as that will wipe out any extra earnings you might have. Buy things that you usually use when they are on sale and use coupons as often as possible only for items you need. Don't go to fancy restaurants except on very special occasions. Learn to roast chicken since you can get a lot of meals out of a large chicken. I always look over supermarket fliers each week to see what is on sale and make a shopping list from that so my food ends up costing me a lot less every week.

I wish you a lot of luck. Once you learn to live within your means your life will be much easier. I have no money stress and my life is good. I lead a simple life and watch all my extravagant show off friends struggling every month to pay their bills. You don't have to impress anyone that you are rich. Just live within your means and trust me, you will have a happy life.