Many people like me get into trouble in their college years. During their first taste of real freedom, they also get inundated with free credit card offers. They enjoy spending however and whenever they want, then find themselves unable to make the necessary payments and mired in debt.

My credit was shot before I finished college. However, I grew up, got a good job and found myself needing credit cards and needing to rebuild my credit history. It took some time but bad credit does go away and one of the first steps can be to get bad credit credit cards. My credit is now perfect and getting the best rate for a mortgage was a snap.

Be honest with yourself and make a sincere assessment of your situation. You’ll need to get a copy of your credit score and find out what your numerical value is. It may seem hopeless now, but there are concrete steps you can take to get back on your feet and have a new credit beginning.

Second, you can choose from either a secured credit card that works like a debit card, by guaranteeing it with a deposit made with a bank or institution or an unsecured credit card that can have a high interest rate attached. Once you’ve gone through the steps to obtain credit report, review your banking history. Have you bounced checks in the past? Do you have trouble keeping your checkbook accurately balanced? If you can answer ‘yes’ to either of these questions than you might want to consider bad credit credit cards option.

You’ve decided to try to get bad credit credit cards. The first thing you need to do is examine the options that are available to you. Do you want a card secured with some of your own money, or an unsecured card that charges more interest? What fee is charged each year? Will they reduce the interest rate after a few months? Can you choose the day on which your monthly payment is due? Are there any bonus programs or minimum requirements for your income?

You should not simply be happy to receive the card, but realize you have certain obligations and options. Special care should be taken with interest rates, as some can exceed 22%–stay away from that card! If you have bad credit, interest rates under 20% are usually decent for an unsecured credit card.

You should get a new copy of your credit report every few months to track the improvement in your credit score and ensure that your on-time payments are being recorded. If they are not, notify the credit reporting company immediately. That way, when you ask “What is my credit score?” you can be confident that the result is positive and accurate.

Most people who have bad credit got it from signing up for credit cards when they were in college then had trouble repaying them. One of the ways to rebuild your credit is to get bad credit credit cards. You also want to ask “what is my credit score?” Make sure you obtain credit report scores on yourself and look into the cards your bank offers. Once you have decided on what cards you are interested in, you need to be aware of their requirements. Don’t choose any card. Investigate each offer carefully to make sure you are getting a good interest rate.

- Daniel Lesser