Getting a credit card is a big responsibility

The Star's front page today reads "Credit card control"

KUALA LUMPUR: The central bank is planning to tighten
the issuance of credit cards in the light of the growing
number of young adults being made bankrupts.

Before you read the full article... the article below
provides some good tips on using credit cards.


Getting a credit card is a big responsibility

Having a credit card can be a wonderful thing. It is
a big advantage to have a credit card, especially when
you want to make purchases online, reserve plane fare
or hotel rooms over the phone, or just don't happen to
have cash when you decide to make a purchase. However,
having credit cards can cause several problems if you
don't watch your spending habits carefully.

Using a credit card is serious and should be recognized
as a huge responsibility. If you follow these simple
tips to using credit cards, you should stay out of
trouble and find your credit cards to be a benefit
to you:

1. When you make a purchase with the credit card,
it is akin to taking a loan from your bank. What you
have borrowed has to be returned - so do not borrow
beyond your capacity to pay it back.

2. Always maintain a record of your credit card
balances during a month so that you are aware of what
you have already spent. This will help you evaluate
if you can make any more purchases in that month as
even small purchases can add up to large balances.

3. Any credit card receipts should be kept until
you can compare them to your monthly statement. If you
find any purchases you did not make, or higher charges
than those on the receipt, contact your credit card
company immediately.

4. Don't give your credit card to anyone, not even
friends and family. Its not that you can't trust these
folks but it would be really difficult to track
purchases if you are not the only one making them.

5. Don't ever borrow more than your ability to pay it
back. If you do and consequently aren't able to pay
it back, it can hurt your future ability to obtain
other forms of loans such as home mortgages, car
loans etc.

6. Always pay your bills in a timely fashion. If you
pay them on time, you can avoid hefty finance charges
and accruing interest. When you miss payments and add
on these charges, the balance just keeps getting higher
and higher.

7. Try to have your credit card bills paid in full
every month. To ensure this, budget your credit card
purchases on a monthly basis and then don't allow
your purchases to exceed that amount.

8. Keep your credit cards for new purchasing. Don't
pay one credit card bill with a different credit card.
This will inevitably lead to more charging and higher
balances.


Keywords: credit card, credit, loan, debt

About the Author
connie g,
connie@fncredit.com

Connie Gutchrif is the Owner of FN Credit - An excellent
resource for information on credit. To read more articles
or get more information, please go to:
http://www.fncredit.com