2. Find Money to Pay Your Debts If you can come up with a chunk of cash to pay off some of your debts, your financial woes may lessen. But even if you feel desperate, dont jump at every opportunity to get cash fast. If you make a bad choice, youll get yourself into deeper debt. This section discusses some of the options you should consider to raise money and options you should avoid, if possible. Its not a complete list. Unfortunately, new scams and bad deals crop up every day. So, proceed cautiously, whatever you are considering....

C. Understand Your Options for Dealing With Your Debts You normally have about a half dozen options for dealing with your debtsprobably more than you imagined. Read this entire section before taking action....

B. Face Your Debt Problems Some people with debt problems believe that the less they know, the less it hurts. They think, Im having trouble paying a lot of my bills. I cant stand the thought of knowing just how much I cant pay. But you must come to terms with your total debt burden. You cannot take steps to rebuild your credit without knowing exactly where your money goesor is supposed to go....

If your debt problems are behind you and youre only concerned with cleaning up your credit report, skip ahead to Chapter 4, Cleaning Up Your Credit File. Also read Chapter 2, Avoiding Overspending. Before you jump into rebuilding your credit, take care of any financial emergencies. Then you should tally up your debt burden and assess your options for handling what you owe....

Creditors like to see evidence of stability, so if any of the following information is not in your report, send it to the bureaus and ask that it be added: your current employment; your previous employment, especially if youve been at your current job fewer than two years; your current residence; your telephone number, especially if its unlisted; your date of birth; and your checking account number. Again, the credit bureau doesnt have to add these, but often it will. (See Chapter 4, Sections F and G, for more information on adding positive data to your credit report.)...