By Julie, Fix Sent: Wednesday October 27, 2010

Expert: Gerri Detweiler

Reader: Julie

Age: 33 Location: Texas

Welcome to Season 1 of The Money Fix! With the help of top national money experts, nine DW readers will tackle real-life money problems, and blog about their progress—right here, in real time.

I'm trying not to feel overwhelmed. Repairing my husband’s credit (see my first post for DailyWorth here) has taken on a life of its own, and the most frustrating part is that there is no easy fix.

After my initial conversation with Gerri Detweiler, who has pretty much become our credit guru, I prepared a task list for my husband. (There's no question that we're a team, although sometimes I feel like the drill sergeant.)

	Settling old debts. My husband called creditors to see if we could work out settlements to pay off his outstanding debt.
	Registering disputes. We're disputing accounts we believe are in his ex-wife's name—another merry-go-round. Experian allows some disputes online, but many times a phone call is required to complete the dispute. TransUnion and Equifax need letters to complete most disputes.
	Rebuilding good credit. Gerri recommended Credit.com to help us open a secured credit card to rebuild my husband's credit history.

The main thing that has been getting us through this long, hard process is celebrating little victories. We recently learned that a couple of the accounts we'd disputed are being removed from my husband’s credit report! This is should help improve his credit score within a month.

Our goal: Get his score to 600. Then: start saving for our first home.

It's a long road, but I feel like we're making progress, and it's a relief.

Credit check: Go to www.annualcreditreport.com to get free annual copies of your credit reports, and get your credit into shape.

Relationships are complicated. What money issues confront you and your significant other?