I Will Teach You to Be Rich: No Guilt. No Excuses. No B.S. Just a 6-Week Program That Works.

by Ramit Sethi

week ONE 1 Get your credit score and credit report (one hour). Check them to make sure there are no errors and to get familiar with your credit. You can access your report and score at myfico.com. (As I mentioned, lots of people use Credit Karma to get a free credit score, but I prefer the official credit score from MyFico, which is more accurate even though it has a small fee.) In addition to your credit score, get your free credit report from annualcreditreport.com. 2 Set up your credit card (two hours). If you already have one, call and make sure it’s a no-fee card. If you want to get a new credit card, check out bankrate.com to find the best one for you. 3 Make sure you’re handling your credit cards effectively (three hours). Set up automatic payments so your credit card bill is paid off in full every month. (If you’re in debt, set up an automatic payment for the largest amount you can afford.) Get your fees waived. Apply for more credit, if you’re debt-free. Make sure you’re getting the most out of your cards. 4 If you have debt, start paying it off (one week to plan, then start paying more). Not tomorrow, not next week, today: Give yourself one week to figure out how much you owe, call the lender to negotiate down the APR or restructure your payments (in the case of student loans), and set up your automatic payment with more money than you’re paying now. Getting out of debt quickly will be the best financial decision you ever make.