Read self-help books

We recommend the following books:

The Insider's Guide to Managing Your Credit By: Deborah McNaughtin

Plan Your Future/Setting Your Credit Priorities
Credit vs Debt
Goals for Credit Needs
Setting Goals
Types of Credit
Credit Cards and their Use
Preferred Credit Cards
Secured Credit Cards
Unsolicited Credit and Charge Cards
Instant Credit
Lines of Credit
Protecting Your Credit
Important Facts About Credit Cards
Ten Commandments of Credit
Qualifying your Credit
Three C's of Credit
Credit Criteria
Credit Scoring
Who qualifies for Credit?
Establishing Credit for the First Time
Credit and the Senior Citizen
Women and Credit
Credit Denials
Credit Reporting Agencies
Obtaining and Evaluating Credit Records
Fair Credit Reporting Act
Applying for Credit
Making your Credit Application
Cost of Credit
Mortgages
Exercising Control
Control Your Spending
Handling Credit Problems Before They Start
The Risk of Cosigning for a Loan
Using Credit to Make Money
Dealing with Credit Problems
Credit Problems
Know Your Priorities
Communicating with Creditors
Consumer Credit Counseling Servicev Charge Card Problems
Working With Collection Agencies
Your Rights
Communicating with Collection Agencies
Negotiating with the Collection Agency
How Collection Agencies Find You
Filing a Complaint Against a Collection Agency
Getting Out of Debt
Raising Cash and Getting Out of Debt
Bankruptcy
Stopping Harassment by Creditors
Consequences of Ignoring Your Bills
Restoring Your Credit
Current Credit Problems: A Warning
Introduction to Credit Restoration
Step-by-Step Guide to Credit Repair
Things to Remember
Payment History
Re-establishing Credit After a Bankruptcy

Credit Card Debt: It Can Cost You Your Life (Lifesaving Strategies to Avoid Debt) By: Susan Powell

What Would You do with $100,000?
Do You Really Want to Be a Big Shot?
$100,000 Down the Drain
Debt: The Death of a Good Attitude
In Debt: What Could I Possibly Do?
To Live in Fear of Money or to Be Free
- Beth, "The Real World's Not Scary Until You're in Debt"
I Had No Intentions of Using Credit Cards. Never
Spending Money Before You Earn It
The Lies You Tell Yourself
18 or 28: When Should You Have More Money?
I'll Never Have to Save
- Pete, "I Won't Ever Do Debt Again!"
College Life and Credit Cards
How One Day Can Wreck Your World
Why Didn't Someone Tell Me?
Are you the Perfect Debt Candidate?
Enslaved by Debt
Buried by Bills
Planning: For Those in the Know
How a Calendar Can Save Thousands
Credit Cards: The Best or Worse Way to Spend Money
- Sharon, "My Husband Handled the Money"
I Knew Nothing About Money
Robbing Peter to Pay Paul
Death or Debt?
A Deal with the Devil
- Jack, "$35,000 Didn't Erase the Credit Card Mistakes I Made!"
Me in Debt... Never
Pesky Penalty Fees Compound Your Problems
When Do You Get Bad Credit?
How to Lose More Than $8,000 in a Flash
The Settlement Process: As Dreadful As It Is Expensive
The Worse Your Credit, The Riskier You Are
A Hard Lesson That Made Me Selfish
- Credit Cards - Bliss or Blunders?
The Bliss of Buying Now and Paying Later
Credit Card Blunders
- The Seven Stages of Debt
- Why Didn't Someone Tell Me How Bad Debt Could Be?
The $300 = 0 Rule
Better Ways Than Using Credit Cards
Methods That Suck Millions Into Debt
The Credit Trap: It Starts So Innocently
- Understand the small Print to Avoid Credit Card Problems
What You Really Need to Avoid Problems with Plastic
The Privilege of Plastic? You Decide
Making Sense of It All
Credit Card Offer: Example A
Example A Explained
Credit Card Offer: Example B
Example B Explained
Staying Out of Trouble Simplified
- The Money Survival Guide: 50 Things to Know to Protect Your Money
- The Money Test: Are You a Good Candidate for Debt?

The Everything Personal Finance in Your 20s & 30s Book
By: Debby Fowles

- Erase your debt, personalize your budget, and plan now to secure your future
The book covers:
- setting goals
- successful budgeting
- the secrets to saving money
- banking
- credit cards
- digging out of debt
- other credit issues
- student loans
- work and career
- housing
- buying a home
- mortgages
- cars
- marriage and family
- unmarried couples
- minimizing income taxes
- investing
- retirement
- insurance
- estate planning books

Generation Debt: Take Control of Your Money- A-How-to Guide
By: Carmen Wong Ulrich

- Why Do We Have So Much Debt, Anyway?
Why & How a College Education Has Become a Must
The Rising Costs of Education
Internships: aka Indentured Servitude
The Competition Choke
Memo to Creditors: Stop Throwing Money at Us!
The Stigma is Gone: Why Big Debt Has Become the Norm
- Get a Grip. Set Goals. Make a Plan.
Identifying Needs vs. Wants
Final Round in the Battle of Expenses vs. Income
Delayed Gratification and the B-Word
Do Your Deal Homework
Automate, Automate, Automate
Creating and Sticking to a Master Plan
- Master Your Student Loans
Types of Education Loans, the Rules of Engagement & Your Rights
Payback Options & What to do if you can't pay
How to Consolidate, Again and Against, Pronto
Graduate School?
- The Potential Prison of Credit Card Debt
What Credit Card Companies Think of You (Hint: "Sucka")
Plastic Has Become the Norm
Get Savvy or Get Screwed
CAUTION!
The Report Card for Grown-Ups
"But What if I'm Drowning?"
Invasion of the ID Snatchers
- To Rent, Perchance to Buy
- The Need for Wheels
- Honor the Tax Man
- The Golden Net of Insurance
- The Magical 401K
- A Pricey Future
Debt for Diplomas: College Trends and Loan Reform
Credit Card Nation: Will It Only Get Worse?
And the Solutions Are.?