Living in California , we've been lucky to start out summer early with sunny weather and backyard barbecues .

With the 70-degree weather this past weekend, I managed to attend not one, not two, but three BBQs — one of which was a backyard pool party! It was so much fun, but also somewhat dangerous because small children love the water.

Both of my girls take swim lessons — mainly for safety so they learn how to float on their back. Those lessons came in handy on the weekend. Long story short, my two-year-old couldn't wait for daddy and left the safety of the pool step to try a few laps on her own!

Needless to say, she didn't get very far. After a few strokes she did the right thing and rolled on her back, but I scooped her out immediately. I was slightly freaked of course, but happy that she was able to float rather than sink!

As I came into work today, I thought about my daughter's incident, and how it's actually a pretty good analogy for managing credit. Let me explain…

Building and maintaining good credit has never been more important, or more challenging. It is important for everyone to learn how to "swim" by understanding how to manage the debt you take on, especially in these tougher economic times.

Just as my daughters take lessons to learn how to be safe while swimming, we all can take lessons to become smarter about credit . If you're looking for some ways to help you stay above water, here are some good tips on building and maintaining good credit.

What other resources have helped you stay afloat?