Bad credit debt has become rampant in this country, as many debtors fail to make good on their promises and abuse their purchasing power. It’s no wonder, then, that credit card debt reduction has become a multi-billion-dollar industry. What most Americans don’t know is that they can repair credit score and right their wrongs on their own.

The first step is to honestly assess your situation by tallying all the incoming income and all the outgoing fixed/variable expenses. If your earnings are less than your expenses, then you have serious problems that may require a full restructuring of your life. Do you have a gas-guzzling SUV or an electricity-sucking air conditioner running all the time? You’ll likely have to sell any “money-pit items” and down-size your life a little bit. Hold a garage sale, move to a smaller place, conserve energy, shop around for better prices on medicine and opt for the bare bones cell phone/cable plans.

Secondly, you should begin paying down your debts to repair credit. This won’t make as great an impact as paying monthly bills on time, but it certainly helps. Begin by figuring out how much disposable income you’ll have toward paying down your debt by subtracting your fixed monthly expenses from your income. Pay your mortgage and utilities in full. Then pay all your minimum monthly payments on your credit cards, throwing all spare cash to the highest interest rate card. Once you’ve paid down that debt, use all your spare cash to pay off the next highest interest rate. Before you know it, you’ll see substantial credit card debt reduction.

The third way to repair credit history is to start a fresh history of good credit. Credit repair company experts say that a healthy credit portfolio includes both the unsecured credit card and secured loans, like an auto, home equity, mortgage or student loan. On average, most people have two or three credit cards they regularly use. Your balance should never be more than 30% of the maximum credit offered and should be paid on-time and in-full each month.

While past mistakes will remain on your record for seven years, the good news is that the past 48 months carry the most weight, so within a year you’ll see large improvements if you keep up with all your payments. Some people take out self-financed loans by taking $1,000 out of their savings and repaying themselves each month, while the bank reports all these timely payments as good credit history to the bureaus.

Lastly, you can repair credit by finding errors in your credit report. Did you know that 40% of all credit reports contain inaccuracies? First look at all the dates of the items. Nothing should go beyond 7 years. Next, look at the status and see if paid accounts are still listed as paid or if there are multiple listings for the same debt. By law, you can ask that this be amended to reflect one credit blemish, rather than several (as a result of moving from a closed account to several collection agencies).

Sometimes, an account may appear that is not even yours. Once you dispute these claims, either online through www.annualcreditreport.com or through the mail, the creditors must defend the claims using supporting evidence or your report will be amended to your version of the truth. This can improve your credit overnight and is as close to a miraculous credit report repair as you can get!