Raise your hand if you were one of the millions of people who promised yourself you'd only use your credit cards for an emergency. Everyone who read this just raised their hand, and that's because no one takes on a line of credit with the intent of falling into debt. It happens, though and then it's all downhill unless you take the steps to fix your credit score. Here's how you can do it.

Open a secured credit card to start rebuilding your credit. It may seem scary to have a credit card in hand if you have bad credit, but it is necessary for increasing your FICO score. Use the card wisely and build into your plans, how to use it as part of your credit rebuilding plan.

Before doing anything, sit down and make a plan of how you are going to rebuild your credit and keep yourself from getting in trouble again. Consider taking a financial management class at your local college. Having a plan in place will give you a concrete place to go to figure out what to do next.

If you are concerned about your credit, be sure to pull a report from all three agencies. The three major credit reporting agencies vary extensively in what they report. An adverse score with even one could negatively effect your ability to finance a car or get a mortgage. Knowing where you stand with all three is the first step toward improving your credit.

Avoid big purchases prior to your needing your score to be at it's best. Anytime you take out a major loan, such as a car loan, your score will take a short dip. This is due to the fact that you now have much more debt than you did before.

If you notice a mistake in your credit report, you can make the corrections yourself. You will need to contact the major credit-reporting agencies and ask for assistance. This is pretty straight forward and there is no fee to do this. There are also publications that offer credit history self-help, as well.

When trying to repair your credit, avoid falling for scams that tell you that you can easily create a new credit file. Do not go through with this. It is called credit fraud and is highly illegal. It can cause you to get arrested or face other harsh legal repercussions.

Even if your credit card allows you a grace period, if you are trying to repair your credit, make at least the minimum payment every month. Skipping payments tells the credit card company that you are broke, irresponsible or both, even if your card agreement says it's okay to do. If you want to repair your credit score, you need to show creditors that you are serious about making payments on a regular basis.

If you want to repair your credit score, avoid actions that send up red flags with the credit agencies. These flags include using advances from one card to pay off another, making large numbers of requests for new credit, or opening too many accounts at the same time. Such suspicious activity will hurt your score.

When searching for professional help in repairing credit, it is important to look for legitimate companies to help you in this endeavor. If a company promises that it can remove most or all of your negative credit history even if that information is up-to-date and accurate, beware of a scam since this cannot legitimately be accomplished.

At the end of the day, getting out of a bad credit situation is all about arming yourself with the proper information to do so. The net is riddled with misinformation and half-truths so heed this information wisely and use it to pull yourself up by the bootstraps so you can experience a life bereft of bad credit.