Is your credit in bad shape? If so, you’re not alone. The credit horizon looks pretty discouraging right now, but it’s never a bad time to start paying off your debts and hiking up your credit score. The credit crunch won’t last forever; if you take care of your credit now, you’ll have access to great rates after the storm has passed. Follow these tips for weathering the financial crisis and keeping your credit on the up and up.

Just don’t buy things you can’t afford.

Paying down your credit card debt is especially important during the credit crunch. If you want to pay down or pay off your cards, don’t sabotage your efforts by charging more purchases. Wait until your debt has dwindled, and then decide if you can really afford the things you want. They might have to wait. Also, don’t fall prey to feelings of entitlement. It can be tempting to buy things after a period of struggle, but think about your financial future before you do so.

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Governments lead by example, whether they want to or not. Sometimes they give us an example of what not to do. Wall Street execs are also unwitting role-models to millions of people. But mistakes can be made at any level, especially when irresponsible lending and spending are involved.

To keep your own credit in tip-top shape, pay attention to these costly lessons learned by banks, mortgage lenders, home buyers, and our national government as a whole.

Lesson #1: Credit isn’t a license to spend.

Just because you’ve got a lot of available credit doesn’t mean you should race out to spend it all. Lenders have a job to do, and that job doesn’t always have your best interests at heart – as too many home buyers have learned in recent years.

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