Q I need to secure more credit for business travel and I have poor credit. My company policy is that we pay for trips and then submit the receipts. A brief overview: My outstanding debt is my home; Bank America credit card with balance of $3,500 (this account was closed by the bank), and Spire credit card with $3,000 balance. My car is paid for and my daughter is paying for her own college. My dilemma is the difficulty in getting credit while being required to travel about weekly for my position. Any creative suggestions would be wonderful.

CECE, WEST ST. PAUL

A It's too bad your company won't give you a company credit card since travel and credit are integral to doing your job. That said, I hope you are promptly filing your expense reports and I hope even more that your company reimburses you quickly.

The goal is to get you in a better financial place over time. I seems to me you're on a good path. You're paying down the Bank America credit card now that it's closed. Banks have done this to a number of customers and, while it isn't a pleasant experience, the closed account does seem to spur people to pay off the debt. The closed account does ding your credit score a bit, too, but that effect wears off fairly quickly. The bottom line is you won't have that debt burden to deal with sometime in the future. I'm sure you'll also work down the other card with time, too. Your credit score should improve as you work off your credit card debts, assuming you're getting reimbursed for your travel expenses in a timely manner.

But what can you do in the meantime? Here's one thought. I would look carefully at your weekly and monthly business travel expenses. I would see how much money is going out on average and how long it takes for you to get repaid. I would then consider getting another credit card that you only use for meeting business expenses -- nothing personal will go on this card. You might have to take out a "secured" credit card. You'll open up a special savings account with a bank or credit union that issues you a card. Your credit limit is equal to or somewhat less than the amount on deposit (which will be determined by your estimate of business expenses). You'll make some interest off the security deposit, but not much. Secured credit cards tend to come with higher fees, too.

Eventually, after showing a pattern of paying off your bills on time, you can usually shop around and switch to a traditional low-fee unsecured credit card. But even then I would only use the credit card for business. Yet assuming your company has a good reimbursement policy you should build up a good credit history fairly quickly.

Chris Farrell is economics editor for American Public Media's "Marketplace Money." Send questions to cfarrell@mpr.org.