When the economy gets as tight as it is today, so do banks. We hear news reports that the credit crunch has now hit the banks. Banks are no longer willing to extend the generous credit limits of the past.

Your APR may rise overnight due a late or skipped payment, no matter how long you've maintained a pristine payment record. Plenty of people find themselves taking a cash advance on one credit card, to make the minimum payment on another. Cash advances mean a transaction fee, while making the minimum payment on the other barely keeps you afloat until the next payments are due. This type of activity can put you in a downward spiral which ends unhappily. Your credit rating goes down, your rates go up and you've got a mess on your hands.

While this is not a pretty picture, your need for credit advice is becoming apparent. You know you can't continue this way, but what can you do?

If you were to give your children credit advice - what would you say? You are the voice of experience talking. After all, you have been there and done that, so you should listen to and learn from your own credit advice. Listed below are some principal credit rules.

1. If you cannot afford it - don't buy it. Use your credit cards to buy clothing, gasoline and other regular expenditures for which you have the cash in hand, and this way you will set up and maintain a good credit history by paying off your cards in full each month.

2.Emergency expenditures do crop up. You may need a root canal for which your insurance only pays a limited amount. A credit card may be used responsibly for such purposes. Our credit advice in this situation? Adjust your monthly budget and pay it off in the shortest period of time. It may be tempting to make that minimum payment, but it may take a year to pay it off. The interest alone may turn that root canal into a $1000 deal.

3. Never finance your holiday shopping with a credit card. Many people do not take heed of this credit advice and buy friends and family all manner of gifts whilst away only to find they cannot pay for the essentials when the credit card statements come rolling in upon their return. Seeing you in financial difficulties does not do anything whatsoever for the recipients of your holiday souvenirs.

4.No matter how tight your budget is, almost everyone can afford to put aside $10 a week in a savings account. Not much, but in a year's time, you can pay cash for that root canal!

In a nutshell, our best credit advice is not to live beyond your means. Establish a savings plan, no matter how modest. You never know what life may throw your way.