Here’s a little credit card advice from someone who knows. I’ve had enough experience to know that if you have a credit card the best way to manage it is to pay you credit card balance at the end of each month…
I hear you all say “well that’s easier said than done!” And right you may well be, but if you are at this point already then you may not be able to save yourself a lot of heartache and headaches in the not too distant future. The point is that if you are paying only the minimum payment amount on your credit card bill because you can’t afford any more, then you are never going to be able to pay off your balance. You might think that changing it to another credit card might help, and you’re right, it would, but not enough to pay it off.
The thing you need to do as soon as you get a credit card is only ever spend what you know you will be able to pay at the end of the month when you get paid. If you’re salary allows you to spend £100 on a shirt then fine, use your credit card, get any loyalty points and whatever from the card, and then pay it back at the end of the month before you have to pay a load of interest! This way you make your credit card work for you instead of the other way around.
This also serves to improve your credit rating and automatically upgrade you to a larger credit limit! Be careful of the larger limits though, you might be tempted to spend more than you can afford (this is what they want remember!)
