You can start working on improving your credit score immediately after your bankruptcy ends. Despite bankruptcies staying on your financial record for as much as 10 years, you can correct your credit score long before that time period ends. Within a year or two of careful financial planning and financial responsibility, it's possible to have your FICO score back to the 700s where you want it to be.

Your First Step: Pay Your Bills on Time

You can get a head-start on rebuilding your credit score by taking the initiative to pay all your bills on time. Yahoo! Finance reminds that paying bills in a timely manner accounts for 35% of your FICO score. Many people aren't aware of that, and it's worth keeping in mind when you think credit rules everything.

Before biting on a new credit card, take a few months to pay all your bills on their due date. This assumes you're employed again and have income coming in. If you don't, you still have time for repairing things. Even if you're receiving unemployment checks, paying your bills on time with the money you receive will help get things on the right path.

Applying for a New Credit Card

Don't be surprised to start seeing credit card offers in your mailbox within months after your bankruptcy is complete.

Yahoo! Finance above reminds that keeping various credit lines open helps give you faster opportunities to get your FICO score up. You just have to learn how to manage all the accounts and not use them frivolously.

Take on a New Loan

Taking out a loan for something significant and making monthly payments on time will also get your credit score on the rise. While you might have higher interest rates because of your lower FICO score, it's a proactive step to help repair your score for a later loan down the road. You'll be able to enjoy lower interest rates in a couple of years that can be used toward something more significant, like a house loan.