You’re doing a good job of saving money to make a major purchase, but you know that your credit score is not where you want it to be. Or, you may be wondering how you can become current on your bills and still have money left over to run your household. While going to a law firm or credit consolidation company to fix your credit may seem like your only option, there are plenty of things you can do at home in order to raise your score; here are some suggestions that may help.

One of the first things you can do to fix your credit is a write a debt negotiation letter to your creditors. It is best to do this as early as possible; this will give your creditors an indication that you want to fix your debt promptly, and shows a real sense of responsibility. In your letter, be sure to include your current address, as well as your social security number and the account number of the debt you are negotiating.

You can state in the letter that you may need an alternate payment plan than the one that was originally agreed upon due to a change in your finances. If you see that the company is charging you a debt that you may not owe, you can make this plain in the letter as well. Requesting that the creditors refrain from reporting your debt to the credit bureaus can also be part of your letter, since creditors can report your debt only as they see fit.

Another way you can fix your credit is to pay off all of your credit cards–and stop using them. This way, you will only have cash to use if you need to make a purchase. Even if you have a checking account, you will have to manage your finances more carefully if you don’t have any credit cards; if you write a check or use your debit card, you will only have about three days to ensure that the money is in the account.

This will help you not to buy things that you know you can’t afford, and will keep you out of debt. If you decide to keep a credit card for emergencies, or to take care of one facet of your household bills (i.e. groceries, paying the mortgage), be sure that you pay the full amount of your bill each month, since paying the minimum balance will keep you in debt forever. Also, you should read the fine print on your credit card bill to make sure that you are paying your debt not only on the right day, but at the right time of day. In some cases, you will need to pay the bill before 12 pm or 5 pm in order to avoid late fees, so make sure you’re aware of the time to keep your bill current.