With a little time and effort, you can pinpoint your credit blemishes and maybe even clear them up for good. Credit is a necessary part of daily life. But it's like work experience: If you don't have any, who will give you some? Up to your eyeballs in debt? You're not alone. Americans are in hock. See how bad it is and what you can do about it. A collector's decision to forgive a debt won't shield you from a the big tax bill that will follow. The flood of consumer spending in the last 20 years hasn't come without a price: massive debt.