Credit Cards – Things to Avoid When Using Them
As much as possible, do not make late payments. Delaying payments will cost you a late fee. Whenever your payment is late for each month, your creditor will include a fee on your next billing statement for the missed payment. You are also not just penalized with a late fee; your interest rate will also increase. Your interest rate will be changed to the default rate, which is the highest interest rate charged by a credit card company as a drawback.
Aside from incurring a late fee, your credit history will also be updated whenever you missed a payment that is more than 30 days. This will smear a good credit report. Late payments will also affect your credit score which will delay you from getting a new credit.
You should also avoid availing cash advances as it also has drawbacks. Cash advance fees usually are 5% of the amount withdrawn. It also does not have a grace period. Interest charges begin to accumulate from the day you made the cash advance.
Avoid being tricked into buying more than what you can pay for. If you know that you cannot afford to buy more or if you cannot afford to maintain a certain lifestyle, then be wise and just use it for things that are essential to your everyday life.
Do not max out your credit card as you may not have a way to pay for your account balance. Maxing out your credit card limit will lead to not being able to pay them on time, which will also lead to incurring interest rates, thus making you pay for more.
In addition, avoid doing credit card balance transfers. This is when you transfer the balance of one credit card to your other credit cards. Even if it will give you more time to pay your account balance, it will, on the other hand, make you lax in finding a way to pay for your account due and will also encourage you more to buy stuff and make your debt increase.