Like many college students in the past, I found my campus mailbox stuffed with free credit card offers. I thought I'd have no problem repaying them so I began charging left and right. Turns out that was a fairly bad idea because with no job I couldn't repay them and I underestimated the payments.

When I finished college, my credit was already bad. Once I got a good job, not only did I need to rebuild my credit history, but I wanted credit cards as well. It may not happen right away, but bad credit will eventually disappear, and one of the first ways can be to get bad credit cards. My credit is now spotless, and getting a prime rate for my mortgage was easy, too.

Know what you are up against by getting a copy of your credit report. Your credit score may look pretty bad now, but it is possible to improve your score; even if you do not, there are more credit options for those with poor credit than ever before.

The next thing you should do is decide between a credit card guaranteed through a bank or financial institution or an unsecured card with a very high interest rate. After you have started the process to obtain your credit report, check with your bank and analyze you usage of the account. Is bouncing checks in your history? Do you keep an up to date log? If the answer is yes to either, you should consider the "bad credit credit card" options.

So you've decided on the "bad credit credit cards" route. You do have choices so check out the options available. Will this be secured with a deposit of your own money? Will it be unsecured but with a huge interest rate? What is the annual fee? After a period of good repayments, will they drop the interest rate? Can you pick you're the day each month to pay so you can match it up with your paycheck? Do they have any bonus programs? What are the minimum income requirements?

You should not simply be happy to receive the card, but realize you have certain obligations and options. Special care should be taken with interest rates, as some can exceed 22%--stay away from that card! If you have bad credit, interest rates under 20% are usually decent for an unsecured credit card.

Now that you're on your way to getting back on track, keep on top of your credit score. Take a look at an updated score every so often to check that your new credit card company is reporting on-time payments. If you're not noticing a difference, call your card company to request it. By the time you're wondering, "What is my credit score?