It can happen to any of us and probably has happened to most of us. Sometimes life simply throws you a curve ball and all of a sudden, you're in a real credit crunch. You can go from having great credit to horrible credit pretty quickly depending on the circumstances and getting your credit built back up can be a time consuming process that requires a good deal of discipline on your part. But the good part is that rebuilding your credit is certainly possible if you follow a few simple suggestions.

Know Where You're Starting From

The first thing you should do is check your credit report. This may seem like a no-brainer to some people, but you'd be surprised how many people don't take this simple first step. There are a number of reasons to check your credit and continue to monitor it. First, the blemishes on your credit report may not be entirely accurate. Therefore you should make sure that all the information in your credit report is a true reflection of your credit history. There's no sense in allowing it to remain worse simply because someone made an error in reporting your information. In addition, by taking a look at your credit report now, at the beginning of your road to recovery, you know where you're starting from. It's likely to only get better and that kind of positive feedback can continue to give you motivation as you keep building your credit over the long term.

Prove Yourself With Actions Not Words

The next thing you can do is apply for a new credit card. What? More credit? Of course this isn't a suggestion that you go out and get a new card with a huge balance and run up that balance too. Far from it. However, nothing shows the credit bureaus that you're becoming less of a credit risk than establishing a history of responsibly using credit. So this new card should be something you use sparingly, perhaps to pay a small monthly bill so you know you can pay off the card each month.

This new card can either be secured or unsecured. Of course the benefit of a secured card is that it's usually tied to a set amount you provide as collateral. That way, the bank knows they will be able to get their money back if necessary which makes them more likely to lend to you in the first place. However, an unsecured card might still be an option since there are still a handful of lenders that you might qualify for, even with bad credit. Credit unions and smaller local banks might also be a good option for this.