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Remember: If the IRS suspects you haven't reported income, it can challenge returns from the past six years. So if you are self-employed or have multiple income sources, hold on to six years of files to be absolutely safe.

A big part of reporting is just being present. You have to show up ten days in a row to get the one telling detail.

Your credit report should be 100% accurate, so make sure everything is entirely correct. If something doesn't look right, dispute it.

I generally encourage people to make good on debts when they have enough money to repay them. But once a delinquency has been reported to a collection agency, paying it off won't help your FICO score. The damage has already been done, and the blemish will remain on your credit report for seven years.

The credit reporting system suffers from inaccuracy and often from outright injustice.

Late payments also hurt your FICO score. And never, ever take out a cash advance on your credit card.

The damage done in one year can sometimes take ten or twenty years to repair.

Debt collectors should be required to disclose the applicable statute of limitations in the body of their collection letters, in bold type. While it's not illegal to dun a consumer for an old debt, it is illegal to sue for one.

It's not long-term debt if the money is immediately paid back.

Your credit score takes into account years of information in most cases. It's not going to improve in a day. But it may improve more quickly than you think. Generally, the last 24 months carry the most weight, so if you can keep clean for that long, you'll see a boost.