If you dread the onslaught of post-holiday bills, perhaps it’s time to take action. There are ways to effectively pay down your debt, if you dedicate yourself to using credit responsibly and stick to a sensible plan.

Identity theft is an ever-increasing threat for all consumers, but children make particularly good targets. That is because they have “unblemished” credit records; once their identity is stolen it can go undetected for months, if not years.