Listen, you've got bad credit -- it doesn't necessarily mean you have the plague and that you're forever destined to apply for bad credit cards. Of course, it could mean exactly that if you don't take the appropriate steps right away. Here are a few things to keep in mind.

Bad Credit Cards Are The Means To An End

Okay, you've messed up your credit. Don't expect to get a platinum card with a great interest rate. You need to hit the bad credit cards first - the ones with the annual fees and the higher-than-usual finance charges.

It's not the end of the world and you can use these cards to build your credit back up. Once you do that, go ahead and apply for the cards with the better terms. In the meantime, however, bad credit credit cards are all you've got.

You'd Better Change Your Wayward Ways

Those $4 lattes and happy hour runs are going to be a thing of the past till your credit gets in order. If you don't have money to get yourself completely out of debt, you don't have money to be throwing away. The majority of your extra cash needs to go towards paying down your debt. If you don't, you'll be at the mercy of bad credit cards forever.

Read more: The Real Truth About Bad Credit Cards