The most delightful sound to a spendaholic is the cha-ching of a cash register. that sound comes in many forms of course, the high-speed printer delivering a receipt – the longer the printing takes the more fulfilling to the shopaholic; the crisp sound of fingers striking the keys of the cash machine; and in the old days, the original cha-ching once the total button was struck. the cash register sound is to a spendaholic what the slot machine sound is to a chronic gambler – music to the ears.

For some, shopping goes beyond picking up wants and necessities, and has become an entire cosmic experience, an experience to be share with like-minded family and friends. Shopping training starts at a young age, with teenagers going to the mall together not to shop, but to meet other teenagers. Picking up a trinket here and there was a by-product in the old days, the main event was hanging out with other teenagers. As we entered adulthood, a sense of freedom overcame us, and with it, a desire to provide for ourselves. We purchased groceries, clothes, and even the occasional trinket. We started saving for the grand daddy of all purchases, the house.

Along the way we developed spending habits, ironically the person who possessed the best spending habits was shackled with the worst possible name – cheap. not frugal, cheap; conversely, the person who was out of control was bestowed the flattering title of generous.

It comes as no surprise then that millions of people are in need of credit repair. Society at large has encouraged them to spend beyond their means, and with no formal credit training they have complied nicely.

For most people, the road to pristine credit is littered with the hard lessons learned along the way. Good credit s not taught in school. Good credit is not taught at home (generally), and the end result is that a person is often in need of credit repair before they reach the desirable 800+ status on their credit score.

In this article we are going to help you on your way with the five most important steps to credit repair.

Step 1 – know your starting point. the term credit repair implies that you know what to repair. This is a fundamental step that most people miss (you would not set out to repair your car without knowing first what’s wrong – correct? the same applies here). you need a copy of your credit report from each of the three agencies. you can get a free copy at annualcreditreport.com. This service will give you the basics once a year for free. If you want more you’ll need to use a credit monitoring service (which we recommend).

Step 2- Review your credit report and determine how bad the damage is, then set out to stop the harmful activity. How many creditors have reported you over 30, 60, or 90 days late? Credit repair requires that you pay all of your bills on time – no exceptions. This is particularly important for revolving credit lines such as bank credit cards. Pay them on time even if you’re paying the minimum. Credit card companies are quick to pull the trigger on bad credit reporting, taking you two steps backwards on your quest for good credit.

Step 3 – Pay cash. If you can’t pay for it with cash, don’t buy it. This does not apply to critical purchases that put your future at risk (by critical I mean basic food, clothing, shelter, etc, not the new Gucci bag).

Step 4 – start paying down your debt, highest interest rate debt first. make the minimum payment on all other debt and deploy your extra money toward the highest rate debt. Repeat this until all of your debt is repaid.

Step 5 – Enjoy more free activities. Engage in good old fashion conversation with family and friends, there is still nothing better. Go for a walk in the park, share a sunset, listen to a concert in the park (bring a picnic).

Credit repair is not rocket science. Spending below your means, paying your bills on time and paying down debt are the most fundamental credit repair activities that you must engage in right now. also, monitoring your credit report is an all important measure of how you’re doing and should not be overlooked.

Credit Repair – 5 Simple Steps to the Road to Recovery