5 Things Not To Do With Your Credit Cards

Here's a familiar story. You get a credit card in the mail. Use it. Rack up a massive debt with huge payments. Now you're missing payments, swimming in debt, with a horrific credit score.

Credit can be a great resource for quick money. However they can also be detrimental to your future finances. You must learn how to most beneficially use your credit cards.

Here I've given you 5 things NOT to do with your credit cards, including 2 tips that may surprise you:

1. Do NOT take a cash advance

People sometimes use their credit cards in order to take a cash advance in order to have cash at hand. You can usually only take out a small percentage of your balance. However, the interest rates are in most cases astronomical, upwards of 25% at times. So use this as a last resort only.

2. Do NOT max out your balance on only 1 card

It is NOT wise to max out 1 card and leave 3 others with a zero balance. This does not help your credit score and actually hurts it. Instead, spread out your balances onto more of your cards. Put about 25-30% on each. This will improve your credit score.

3. Do NOT miss a payment

Everyone has heard this before and is self-explanatory. Missing a payment is the #1 cause of bad credit. Any list would be incomplete without it being mentioned.

Now the 2 you may NOT expect:

4. Do NOT close out your old credit cards.

Even if your interest rate on your first ever credit card is outrageous, keep it open. Just leave it open with a balance of zero. The older your credit card accounts are the more they help your credit score. So don't do anything. Easy.

5. Do NOT pay your credit card bill right away

Now I don't mean miss the due date, see tip 3. What I mean is don't pay it off as soon as you get the bill in the mail. Wait until the week of the due date to mail in your check. Then that whole month-long period, YOUR money is earning interest for YOU, not that card company. Keep it that way.

There you go, don't make these mistakes again. You'll be on your way to improved credit and more wealth. Good luck!

By: Jay Miles

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