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Credit card companies are jacking up interest rates, lowering credit limits, and closing accounts - and people who have made timely payments are not exempt. So even if you pay off your balance - and that's tough when interest rates are insanely high - there's a good chance your credit limit will be slashed, and that will hurt your FICO score.

Whether you're earning $7 an hour or $700,000 a year, it's very important to protect your credit rating.

If you fail to pay your minimums for any debt on time, your credit score will take a major hit and you run the risk of seeing the interest rate on all of your cards go up. An easy way to remind yourself to pay, is to sign up to receive your statements via e-mail.

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.

Consumers going through foreclosure typically will see their credit scores drop, raising longer-term questions about their ability to rebound financially and perhaps pursue a more sustainable home purchase at some later point.

An improving credit landscape means fewer loans are delinquent - and fewer people are needed to service these loans.

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

It is imperative that we make consumers more aware of the long-term effects of their financial decisions, particularly in managing their credit card debt, so that they can avoid financial pitfalls that may lead to bankruptcy.

I love, love, love that you want to use your debit card. But to keep your credit score solid, you still need to keep a few credit cards and use them at least once every few months.