In this modern age where the economy has been challenging for ordinary people like you and me to keep up, it's easy to get into credit trouble when your credit bills start to pile up.
So if you are in a position to start learning the ins and outs of the credit card world, there are plenty of things you can do to avoid credit card debt before it sneaks up on you and keep your nose clean, as they say. .
This is an exceptional goal for you if you just got your first credit cards.
If you know or speak to someone who is struggling with tens of thousands of dollars in credit card debt, you know what a jail sentence can be.
Once credit card debt becomes this high, the time it will take, even under the best of conditions, to reduce it will span years, if not decades.
And during all that time, thousands of dollars go down the drain to credit interest that does not allow you to buy food, movie tickets or new clothes. It just disappears without any value to you.
But if you're new to the world of credit, getting a credit card is a good thing.
But once you get one, keeping it under control is job one. Using a credit card will be incredibly easy once you receive it. In fact, the retail world makes it difficult to transact otherwise.
You can pay for gas at the pump that way and even load your purchases at the grocery store.
And while all of these great uses of credit come in handy, you can end up with a huge credit card bill at the end of the month. And if you don't pay that bill, that's the first step to a life sentence in jail for credit card debt.
So there are some guidelines you need to follow to use credit responsibly, but also to continue to build your credit rating, which has real value to you.
Remember that what the credit card companies don't tell you is that charging a credit card is a loan. Even if you only charge $ 10 to go to the movies, you have taken out an unsecured loan to finance your movie ticket.
So once you start using a credit card, keep in mind that you will pay for whatever you accumulate. It is NOT free money.
A good practice is to save each receipt each month and keep an up-to-date count of what you have spent on credit.
Now you can only use that to verify your credit card, it keeps you honest because every time you add a charge to your credit card, you can update your account so you know for sure that you will be able to pay it when the bill comes.
Paying your credit card every month is the number one best way to keep your credit problems under control.
Now, it's not a bad idea to let some of your debt drift from month to month. This builds your credit history and credit rating that will pay you well in the future when you want to make a larger purchase.
But by staying on top of your credit and what's going to your card, you'll start with the kinds of habits that will lead to a life of good credit use without the credit card jail. And that's a wonderful gift to give yourself early in life.
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