You won't be caught off guard and you won't feel guilty, because you'll be spending money that you've allocated for the occasion.

Sometimes a creditor is willingto do this as a bargaining point - you give the creditor cash in hand, it gives you a positive listing on your credit report - even though you haven't paid the full amount. Get this agreement in writing.

Even in the days of the tightest credit in 2008, HELOCs [ home equity line of credit ] and home equity loans were being made.

A little personality goes a long way.

Turn down offers for new cards or credit line increases on your current cards. Credit's tight, and chances are, you're not getting many offers anyway. But if you do, remember that the less credit you have available, the less trouble you can get into.

Once the settlement is completed, the credit card company will report it to the credit bureaus, which will then make a notation on your credit report that that account was paid by settlement. That's going to signal to future lenders that you left the last guy hanging. That's why, as with bankruptcy, debt settlement is an extreme option, one you shouldn't take lightly. It's not just an easy, cheap way to eliminate debt.

By definition, saving - for anything - requires us to not get things now so that we can get bigger ones later.