Payment histories and how much debt you currently hold are the most important factors that could alter your credit score. Since a divorce can result in added expenses, it’s important to watch these two factors as they apply to the amount of credit card and other debt you’re currently holding.

Here are some strategies you can employ to ensure that your divorce does not harm your credit rating:

Reduce your life expenditures

When living with your spouse, you benefited from sharing expenses between your two incomes. This is actually an extraordinary financial benefit. Post-divorce, you may need to downsize your life to a smaller apartment and you might even need to purchase a less-expensive vehicle to prevent going overboard on expenses.

Create a budget

Many Americans have the luxury of going “budgetless.” They don’t need to track their spending and they always seem to have enough cash to go around. After the divorce, you may want to establish a firm budget to prevent yourself from spending beyond your financial means.

Close out your joint credit cards

As soon as it’s clear you’re going to divorce, cancel all the credit cards that you hold jointly with your spouse. As financially responsible as your spouse is, you never know what people will do during the divorce process and it’s best to cover your bases. Also, deauthorize your spouse’s name from any of your individually owned credit cards that he or she might have access to.

These are just a few strategies to help you stay in control of your debt levels after your divorce. Another way to control debt is to divorce in a cost-effective fashion. There are many cost-saving divorce and family law solutions that Arizona spouses may want to look into in this regard.