Once upon a time in my life, I was dead. Dead not in the physical sense mind you, but the consumer sense. You see, I had bad credit. Actually, bad credit would have been an upgrade. I even got a denied letter for a debit card. That's right, the bank did not trust me with my own money. It was so bad that I thought life was over--and I was only starting my twenties.

What They Teach You

Nothing of use really. We are taught, through our societal guidelines, that we are to obtain credit to buy items. It works like magic. One minute you are just getting by and the next minute you have a kind company willing to loan you hundreds to thousands of dollars--all for a price. We are taught to go buy items of our dreams and not to worry. Just pay your small monthly fee and all will be fine.

What Happens if I Miss Payments?

All is not fine if you get in over your head. Most of us grow up getting credit lines and not knowing the first thing about credit itself. If we did, oh how different we would act. However, that day almost always comes when you miss your first payments. For many of us that is just the beginning. For me, it was one missed payment at first and then many missed payments. The many missed payments became many collection accounts, a reposed vehicle and more.

As you might now, missing payments leads to a lower credit score. We are told that once we mess up, that is it for seven long years. Ruin your credit at 18 and wait until you are 25 to start at it again. Mess it up at 26 and wait until your mid 30's. Why would they be so harsh? The answer is five large letters--M-O-N-E-Y.

Why are They Lying to ME?

Why do most humans lie? For personal gain of course. By holding you down in the bad credit well, you can be taken advantage of. Sure, you may still be able to get an auto loan, but now it will cost you 29% interest. Are you insane? Back to my youth, I was way past this point. I could not even get approved for a secured credit card.

Think about this for one moment.

Credit Repair is a SCAM!

This is what we are fed daily isn't it? The truth is somewhere in the middle, as usual. Many places that offer credit repair are indeed bad news. However, many do indeed work. The worst lie is that you are helpless for seven years. Did you know there is a way to correct your credit report on your own? It does not take any supreme knowledge or special connections inside the powers that be.

So how did credit repair save me? Well, it opened my eyes to the possibilities and cast the lies into the darkness where they belong. It made me go read and understand the laws that govern the credit arena. It helped me realize that I did not have to let bad companies, who claim to simply be helping those in need, take advantage of me. Finally, my journey allowed me to reclaim my credit identity and experience life as it was meant to be.

My website (JakeTruman.com) has more articles about credit and what you can do about your credit identity. Don't get taken advantage of, educate yourself. I can show you how to stop collection agencies from calling and how to correct items on your credit report quickly. Additionally, there is a credit repair information website at CreditLiberty.com that you should visit.

Jake Truman is a Real Estate & Stock investor and Credit informer. Website: Real Estate. He has published a book on Credit Help, which is available at his website JakeTruman.com.