1. Make a Plan

Get all your credit reports, your bills, and your bank statements out on a table and take a hard look at them. If you don’t have any of these things handy, go online and get a copy of the most recent ones.

Go through that credit report with a fine-toothed comb. Look at the items that are hurting your credit particularly, and highlight any ones that seem wrong or that are having an impact that seems way out of proportion to the offense.

Go through your bank statement and look for expenses you can stop incurring (check out Mint.com). For most people, we recommend finding $150 somewhere in your budget. That extra $150 will make a huge difference in even the worst credit problems, trust us. Look for things like fast food, video games, rental DVDs, iTunes, unnecessary phone fees like texting, utility bills that can be cut down.

For the bills, make a calendar of when things are due. Don’t just go with the due date on the statement; find out when they report to the credit bureaus. That’s when you’re going to want to pay them. If you want to know why this will help your credit, take a peek at our article about the Credit CARD Act.

2. Dispute Inaccurate Items

Remember all the stuff you found on your credit report that seemed off? Go make a ruckus about it. It’s sad, but many companies count on the fact that few people actually go through their credit reports or dispute inaccuracies. This is a squeaky wheel gets the grease situation. Do your best mouse impression.

If you don’t know what you’re looking for to dispute, ask a professional. DO NOT use a credit repair agency that says they’ll dispute everything. This will do way more harm than good, especially since credit companies see that scam coming a mile off. You need someone who can tell the difference between an error and a legitimate mark against your credit. We’re one of those people, but there are others out there. If you have a friend who’s more knowledgeable than you, ask him.

3. Negotiate With Your Creditors

If you’ve been a good customer, you can ask for “goodwill”. Many creditors are willing to erase a late pay if you’ve had a good history. You’ll probably have to make your request in writing.

If you’re past the good history stage and are in collections, negotiate with them. Most collection agencies just want some money. The older the debt, the more willing they are to negotiate.

Be polite, be honest and make sure it’s all in writing.

4. Make Bigger Payments

Paying the minimum balance will keep you in debt for the maximum amount of time. Paying just a little bit more than the minimum will get you out a heck of a lot faster. That extra $150 you found in your bank statement is going to be of help here. Put it to good use paying off credit debt.

Your goal is getting your credit card balances below 30% of the limit. That means if you have a credit card with a $1,000 limit, you want to get your balance down to $300. Calculate one third of your credit card limit and make that your goal. It’s hard, but it’s not as hard as getting it down to zero.

5. Get Another Credit Card

No, seriously. If you don’t have 3 open, good credit cards, you need them. Even if they’re pre-paid cards, you need them. Those good accounts create a counter-balance to your bad accounts. You want the good accounts to outweigh the bad ones, so fatten them up. Make all your payments on time and pay off the full balance every month.

If you have trouble with using credit cards, use them only for small purchases. Make one your card for groceries, another your card for gas. Those are little purchases you’re not likely to overspend on, since you pay the same amount every month. That will keep you from going over the line and blowing $300 on new shoes.

That’s it. That’s the big 4-step plan. Anyone can do it. Most people don’t. You want to improve your credit fast? These are the steps

Be one of the ones who does.

Ooh, that last one got a little harsh. A lot of couples ARE arguing about finances these days, and it always sucks.

Here’s the thing when you’re in a tough financial situation with someone you care about. You want to make up from your fight by doing something nice for them. So you go out and spend money on a present or a nice dinner out or tickets to a show you know they want to see.

Whereupon they yell at you for spending money unnecessarily and you get to have the fight again. Um, no thank you.

Never fear. We’ll have you calling that budget-inept idiot your snookums again in no time. Except maybe you don’t want to call them that. The more I look at the word, the more creepy it sounds.

Here are five things to do the next time you want to do something sweet for your (insert appropriately sappy nickname here).

#1 Make dinner.

You’re going to have to make dinner anyway, right? So make it a nice one. Pick out a new recipe, spend some time setting the table and lighting candles. Pick some flowers if you’re in an area where they grow wild. If not, make a centerpiece out of the candles instead. Tealights are cheap and pretty, and we’re sure you have knickknacks around. Just make the table look nice. Show that you put some effort in.

If you’re the sort of couple who likes to cook together, do that. If you can sneak home ahead of them and surprise them, do that. Think about what your partner would most like and go for it.

Have a back-up plan. And by “back-up” plan we mean “the number of a cheap takeout place you both like”. If your experiment in nouveau cuisine goes south, you want to still have dinner ready. Trust us, they won’t be mad. Nearly nothing is more adorable than a failed attempt at making the perfect dinner.

#2 Go dancing.

There are free dance lessons everywhere you look. Salsa is always fun, rollicking, and full of other couples looking to teach you new steps and get you into the swing of things. Head over to your local coffeeshop or meeting place and you’ll find fliers and cards advertising free dance lessons and open dance afterward.

Don’t worry about it if you suck. Sucking is part of the experience. Have a drink or two to loosen up and give it everything you’ve got. After a couple of weeks, you won’t suck, and you can help out other new couples.

Plus, the next time you’re invited to a wedding, you’ll be the life of the party. Good dancers are rare in this world, and everybody likes them.

#3 Take Note of the Little Things.

“I really have to get a new bottle opener, I hate this one.”

“I loved this book when I was a kid.”

“It seems like I just can’t find a good chiropractor.”

Little things we say all the time. Pay attention when these happen. Keep a list of them. The next time you want to do something nice, crack out the list and see what they said. Get a new bottle opener and present it with a ribbon. Buy that book she loved when she was a child. Ask around and get him the name of a chiropractor who specifically specializes in what he needs done.

All of these things are either free or incredibly cheap, but that’s not the point. The point is you were paying attention, and took a little time out of your day to make theirs better.

#4 Make One Day of the Week “Your” Day.

Walk up to your partner and say, “Hey, we should start spending one day a week just being together.” Pick a day you can both do that. Never plan anything else on that day.

Create a routine you both enjoy. Maybe you go browsing in used bookstores or head over to the farmer’s market. Maybe you invite friends over for dinner. Maybe you just laze around, watch old movies, and cuddle up with a glass of wine. Whatever you do, make it something you do together.

No matter how simple what you do is, they’ll appreciate that you set aside time to spend with them. Don’t mess around, either: don’t just say you’ll try to spend one day a week together. Nuh-uh. Your schedule’s pretty standard. Pick a day you know you can do. If someone asks you to do something, you’re busy.

#5 Throw Them a Party.

For no reason. Make a cake, put balloons and streamers up, and get a small, totally cheap present that will make them smile. (No. 3, the listening one, is really handy for figuring out a small, cheap present that they’re thrilled about.)

Invite their friends. Have a game night, or sit around all night drinking beer and eating cake.

I had a guy friend whose girlfriend did this for him. We walked in the door to a fully decorated house. He asked what it was all for, and she said, “No reason, I just felt like throwing you a party.”

I didn’t even like this girl, but I stole her idea. That’s how good it was.

Now go make nice with your snookums.

#1 Closing Old Credit Cards

When you finally pay off that credit card, it seems like the smart thing to do is just chop it into tiny pieces, call up the company, and close it down completely. No temptation, no consequences. You are finally free of the credit card! It has no power over you. You are no longer being drawn to the Dark Side.

Sorry, Luke. Turns out your credit rating isn’t going to get rewarded if you remove the temptation. It’s only going to reward you if you get tempted and deny said temptation. Be strong.

A credit report with old accounts looks good on your report. The aged accounts give you points, just for having had a credit line open that long. Go bury them in the backyard if you want to make using them hard on yourself, but don’t close them out with the company.

#2 Using Up All Your Available Credit

You have a credit card with $3,000 available credit. That means you can spend $3,000. Because that’s what’s AVAILABLE. Right?

‘Fraid not. Credit card companies are sneaky like that. Truth is, your balance-to-limit radio is going to have a big effect on your credit. You want your balance (the amount you spend) to be only 20% of your limit (the amount that’s available). That means that $3,000 credit card should only have $600 on it if you want to keep your credit shiny clean.

If you really need that credit to get through the day, call up your credit company and find out what day of the month they report your balance to the credit bureaus. If you pay your bill just before that day, the amount reported to the credit bureau will be as low as possible.

#3 Applying for Too Much Credit

When you’re hurting for cash, your impulse may be to fill out as many credit card applications as possible in hopes that one will come through. This is actually a good way to make sure NONE of them come through, since lots of inquiries damages your credit report and makes those credit card companies less likely to give you credit.

Allow there to be 6 months between every applications. Let your old cards get older (see our advice on #1) and don’t get new stuff. Credit card companies are watching.

Yeah, it’s creepy. But it’s true.

#4 Not Paying Late Fees

When you’re late or over the limit, credit card companies charge you a fee. We’ve all gotten these, and they suck. The problem isn’t the fee, though. The problem is when you only send your regular payment, and don’t include the fee.

The fee will roll over and it will be considered 30 days late. Not only will that get you another fee, it’ll show up on your credit report. It’s a vicious, vicious cycle, and it’s sneaky too. Out-sneak your credit company and enclose the imposed fee with your payment.

#5 Moving

We’re not saying you shouldn’t move. But seriously, you would not believe how many times a day we see angry people whose companies didn’t forward their bills in time. They got late fees, they got dinged credit reports, and they’re pissed.

They should be pissed. It’s a lousy policy on the part of the credit companies. If they wanted to get good customer service points, they’d be all over sending your bill to the right place.

Unfortunately, they’re more in the business of collecting late fees. They don’t care that you’re upset. You have to be in charge of your own bills.

You know what date your bills are due. Set up online bill pay, write the due dates in big letters on your calendar, do whatever you have to do, but don’t rely on the postal service to get your bills to you on time.

Seriously, the postal service? That’s dangerous even if you’re not moving. Join us in the 21st Century. Set up an alert on your computer or have your email calendar remind you. Use your cell phone. Make it happen.

You know when your favorite TV show is on, right? We’re going to go out on a limb here and say that keeping your credit score high is slightly more important than what happened on Lost this week. What happens on Lost isn’t going to make any sense, anyway. There’s no reason your credit report should be the same. 

Kids these days. With their iPods and their Xboxes and their cellphone texting. Overdeveloped fingers and underdeveloped social skills. You disobedient rugrats, get offa my lawn!

Annnnnnd apparently I’m an old man waving a cane from my porch rocking chair. But it’s true that kids have gotten highly dependent on their technology, and they may not take it well when you have to cut down on luxuries like cable and cell phone allowances.

See it as an opportunity. Through no fault of your own, your kids have to do without technology. This means they could spend time doing other things. Like . . . gasp! spending time with their families.

That’s you, by the way. Ever wish your kids spent more time with you? Well, now they have nothing shinier and more brightly colored distracting them. Take advantage.

One of the best things about family outings is that they’re cheap. The idea is to spend time together, not to spend money. Here’s 5 Things you can do with your kids on the cheap. Who knows, they might even have so much fun they won’t complain about the fact that they can’t bring their handhelds.

Well, no. That’s a little too optimistic. But they might forget to complain for awhile. You know, while they’re having fun.

#1 Pack a Picnic.

Make it a big, complicated picnic. The more accoutrement involved in getting the picnic together, the more exciting the prospect.

Send the kids around the house for a good blanket to lie on, a Frisbee and a football, a baseball bat and a ball appropriate for their age range. Bring books. If you have younger children, bring ones you can read aloud. Bring a boombox with a good CD in it that you can play low in the background. Bring a book on trees, insects, flowers, or animals if you want to throw a little education into the mix.

Take your picnic to the beach, the park, or even the backyard. Just laying out a picnic is incredibly satisfying. The best part is that the meal itself doesn’t have to be any more expensive than your usual lunch budget. Sandwiches, chips, and fruit are easy and cheap. They’re also hard to screw up if you aren’t the culinary type.

#2 Take Them Out to the Ballgame.

Gone are the days where you had to sell your firstborn for seats to see the home team. The economy sucks – take advantage.

I’ve seen tickets for the Padres at $12, which price also includes a hot dog and a soda. Remember when you used to have to pay $12 for the hot dog and soda alone? Those days are gone. Kick back, put your feet up on the seat in front of you, and teach your kids about the fine art of watching a good game – namely, eat bad food, cheer a lot, and don’t throw up.

You can also do this with your local high school or college game. Trust us; the cheering is the same no matter where you go. And a smaller venue with more people in it is just as exhilarating. Also, they probably won’t kick you out if you say something mean to the ref. They’re used to crazy parents.

#3 Monopolize Their Night.

Monday nights are boring. Competition is exciting. They can make beautiful music together. Crack out the Monopoly board, Trivial Pursuit, Life, Trouble, or any other board game you have sitting around in the closet. Make some snack foods and get some cheap paraphernalia to make it more interesting. Hats are always good.

If you’re really adventurous, try your hand at turning your kids into card sharps. Teach ‘em poker or blackjack and use pennies, nickels and dimes for chips. Playing for real money – even when it’s literally chump change – appeals to kids of all ages. At the end of the night, they’re up two dollars. Wooooow.

Seriously, they’ll love it.

You can also take bets. Not real bets. We’re not trying to turn your kids into the spawn of Vegas here (although if you train ‘em really hard, maybe they can get you out of your debt in their new careers as professional poker players). But fun bets. If they win, you take them for ice cream. If you win, they have to do the dishes.

I used to do this with my girlfriend. We were slightly more avant-garde. I believe I was cured of any betting addictions that may have been lying latent in me when I had to run down a beach in a wedding dress carrying a boom box on my shoulder playing Tiny Dancer by Elton John. That sort of thing is better than any 12-step program.

#4 Kick a Ball.

Or hit one. Or throw one. Or do whatever the hell it is soccer players do with their foreheads. Go play a game, an impromptu playground-style game, at the park. Invite another family you know, or start a pick-up game with other families at the park.

Hint: kickball has never not been fun. Ever, in the history of kickball games. If your kids are too young or uncoordinated to hit a baseball reliably or make a basket, they can still kick the bejeezus out of a bouncy rubber ball, and have a great time doing it. The nature of the game also means they have a pretty good shot of getting to first base, even if they kick it right to someone.

Play Ultimate Frisbee, or football, or Monster Tag. Have your kids teach YOU the games they play on the playground at school. Just get out there and roll in the grass. They call it “fun and games” for a reason.

#5 Take a Hike.

Wherever you are in the United States, there is a pretty trail just begging for you to walk it. Mountains are great: they’re pretty and they’re challenging, so your kids will be focused on getting to the top and not on nagging you about whether they’re there yet. No, you’re not there. The top is when you’re there. Bet you I can beat you.

No kid is going to let you beat them up a mountain. Well, your six-year-old might. But after about the age of ten, there’s no way they’re letting you beat them.

And when you get to the top, you can pass them the water bottle and have a heart-to-heart, just like you wanted. They’ll be too exhausted to run away.

You never know. Having to cut your entertainment budget may be the best thing that ever happened to your relationship with your kids. Get creative. Spend some time with them. And save some money while you’re at it.