When applying for personal loans, be careful not to borrow more money than you really need. While it may be nice to have a little extra set aside, it'll just mean that you'll end up paying a lot more interest across the life of the loan, and it may take longer to pay off.

If you've got a tarnished credit rating, you'll have to live with the fact that you won't be able to get traditional personal loans -- but you may be able to get sub-prime loans. Expect to pay a much higher rate of interest, however, because the lenders know these loans are risky.

If you have bed credit, it might be a good idea to put off trying to get a personal loan for six months or a year after a bad credit event, as long as you keep making all your other payments on time. Late payments will eventually age off your credit report; so will repossessions, though it takes more time.