Financial Crisis 101

The second thing Suze recommends is the same advice she has been giving for years—pay down your credit card debt. "It is possible and probable that many of the credit card companies out there are going to be shrinking, shrinking, shrinking your credit limits, and that hurts your credit score—so please start paying down your credit cards."

Along with paying down your debt, Suze stresses the importance of paying your bills on time. "If you are late on a credit card payment, that hurts your credit score," she says. "If it hurts your credit score, which is known as your FICO score, everybody who [you have] credit with will know it. Your interest rates will go up, and they will most certainly slam you right out of your credit."