Dear Ash Cash: I just entered my second year of college and I really don’t understand the credit game. Why is it so important and how can I take control of it? -Jessica R. (Nashville, TN)

A: Nowadays you need credit for everything! To find an apartment, to rent a car, to open a bank account, even to get a job!! The problem is that some of us have not been properly trained to manage credit so we mess it up at such an early age and spend a very long time trying to get it right. Credit can be a gift or a curse! Assuming its now a curse lets talk about some ways to get it together. In order to get where you going you have to know where you are. The first step in fixing your credit is to Get Your Credit Report. Most states allow you to get a free credit report once a year by going to www.AnnualCreditReport.com. If you would like to know what your score is then you can purchase it from one of the three major credit bureaus, which are Equifax, Experian, or TransUnion. Secondly you need to review for discrepancies. In today’s age of technology where identity theft happens more often than not, it is imperative that you check your credit report for fraud or discrepancies at least twice a year. Make sure you are not paying for someone else’s bad habits. If you do happen to see something on your credit report that quite doesn’t belong there than you must notify the proper credit bureaus as soon as possible. By law they have 30 days from the date they receive your dispute to resolve it.. You also need to get rid of bad debt! If you know you may have issues paying a debt in the near future make sure you call your creditors first and set up some type of payment arrangement. They are always willing to negotiate debt because they rather get something than nothing. Also it is a great idea to start getting rid of the cards that you no longer use starting with the ones that have the least credit history. Creditors do not want to see too much credit outstanding. Lastly you must begin to build good credit by showing creditors that you are stable and can pay your bills on time. The way the credit games goes is that creditors give money to people they think don’t need it . With this in mine it is important to have low usage on your revolving credit accounts. As a simple rule of thump you should never go over 20% usage which equates to $20 for every $100 of credit.