You may have just obtained your first credit card, or if you have had them for years. However, it doesn’t hurt to reacquaint oneself with the basics of managing it. Too many people are getting into serious debt problems through misuse and mismanagement of their credit cards. By falling into the trap of depending on cheap credit, consumers are racking up more debts than they can handle.
Credit cards can be a very handy tool when purchasing items, and if used wisely, can even save you money. The problems begin when you begin to lose sight of how much you are actually spending. Because you only get your credit card statement monthly, you can very quickly lose track of how the actual amount that you spent in the month on your credit card, a problem which doesn’t occur when using cash. If you leave an outstanding balance each month, and let the balance increase over a period of time, you can quickly reach your credit limit. When this happens, some people may solve this problem by appling for another card or start to use an existing card from another supplier. This simply serves to compound the problem, often with serious results, usually needing some kind of debt management plan or help and advice.
The simplest and safest way of using a credit card is to set up a direct debit in order to pay off the balance in full each month. All that is ok provided that you . If you have a good idea what your monthly groceries, fuel and living costs are each month, then using a card to pay for these and paying off the balance each month can be quite a good idea, especially if you have a cashback card or a current account that earns good interest, as your money remains in the account for the maximum amount of time possible. This is a clever way to use a card as it actually makes money for you.
Unfortunately, it is not feasible for everyone to operate a credit card in this manner. If you cannot pay off the balance in full each month, it is still worth setting up a direct debit to repay the minimum required payment each month. If you do not do this simple thing, you run the risk of missing a repayment which can affect your credit record, as every single missed payment is recorded on your file. This could ultimately damage your credit rating, making it difficult to get credit in the future, so make sure that you do not allow any missed payments to happen. Having the direct debit set up prevents it from happening.
Make sure that you know how much disposable income that you have each month, that is, money not used for rent, mortgages, bills and other essentials etc. Basically, you need to make a budget plan. Failing to plan is planning to fail, particularly if you are on a tight budget. Keep a record of any purchases made by credit card and deduct it from your available cash allowance.
If you can keep on top of your spending and you always know exactly where you are with your finances, you should not get any shocks at the end of the month when the statement arrives and you should therefore keep out of trouble.
Should you have gotten out of your depth and need help to sort out your personal finance situation, then a debt management plan or some form of debt help is an advisable course of action to take to get you back on track as soon as possible.


