 TITLE: How to Maintain Your Credit During a Crisis CONTENT: Stay Proactive and Plan Ahead\n-----------------------------\nDuring times of crisis, desperation can lead to spikes in scams and identity theft, so it's especially important to protect your identity. In addition to regularly reviewing your credit report, you can take more proactive measures such as putting a fraud alert on your credit report if you are a victim or think you may become a victim of identity theft.\nA fraud alert instructs creditors to take extra measures to verify your identity when they are processing an application for credit. It only takes a few minutes to add a fraud alert to your credit report, and placing an alert with one of the three consumer credit bureaus (Experian, TransUnion or Equifax) triggers alerts at the other two. If you want to remove a fraud alert, however, you need to do so with each bureau separately.\nIt's also smart to plan ahead financially as much as possible. If you haven't already created one, this might mean making a budget to help you see where your money goes each month and set aside savings in an emergency fund. If you lose your job or find yourself with unexpected expenses, this savings can help you get by and avoid taking on more debt.\nYou can also tighten your existing budget to help you weather the hard times more easily. This could look like cutting back on gym memberships or streaming services and setting aside more for savings or debt payments. This way, if you lose income or face an unexpected expense, your expenses will be lower and you'll have more savings to fall back on.\nIf you're looking for ways to improve your credit during a crisis, there are a few strategies that can help. Making payments on time (even just the minimum), keeping balances down on your credit cards and avoiding too many new credit applications will all go a long way toward keeping your credit sound and help prepare you to be in a stronger financial position once the crisis subsides. END