How Can I Get a Credit Card If I Have Bad Credit?

The hardest thing to do, especially in this economy, is to get a credit card when you have bad credit. So how do you do it? There is no magic formula or answer for you. You will have to do it the long, hard way, by cleaning up your past credit problems, and then building back up a good credit history.

Clean up any old debts.

Yes, this is an unfortunate part of getting bad credit in the first place: eventually you will have to pay it off, and often at a much higher price.

Get a copy of your credit report, and go through it with a fine toothed comb. Take care of any errors first.

The next step is to get out any old bills, loans, or other bad debt you may have. If you can consolidate, great. But if not, you will need to call up each company or debt collector, and make arrangements to pay what you can. And then stick to it. If someone isn't willing to work with you on your terms, pay off the ones you can first, and then work on the difficult ones. Perhaps you can save up money, and then offer to pay off the full amount.

Unfortunately, this part of the process could take months, or even years if your debts are big enough. But stick to it, you are at least doing what is right, and paying off your bad debts.

Ask your bank for a credit card I f you have bad credit.

Especially if you have made arrangements to pay off any old debts, and you can prove your on the road and making your payments on time. Your bank may overlook your bad credit and issue you a credit card, so it doesn't hurt to ask, especially if you have a good standing with your institution.

Secured credit card for bad credit.

If you can't get a real credit card, you might be able to get a secured card. This usually means you have to already have money in the bank to cover the secured card, in the form of a checking or savings account, and a good history with your bank. That's the purpose of a secured credit card, to reestablish or build up your credit.