Credit cards easily ruin lives. It is so easy to just swipe a credit card, keep running up the bill, continue paying interest, and just ignore the bill. The problem is that interest rates will jump very high with even one missed payment, and they don’t go back down. Credit cards companies are always mailing out promotional cards to people, especially targeting younger adults and anybody who is not good with finances.

I have been told that it is a good idea to have at least one credit card, but that is not true. You don’t NEED a credit card to build credit. So how else do you build credit? When you have bills in your name, such as phone, electric, garbage, anything that creates a paper bill that you pay, that goes on your credit report. You can go all through life never owning one credit card and still have credit!

Another big mistake people make is to only make the minimum payment. If you have a card with over $1000 charged, with 12% or higher APR, if you only make the minimum payment, you will likely spend more than 60 years paying it off!

Not only does this damage your credit history, but it will make getting more credit in the future harder. These companies look at your income, debt, if you pay your bills on time, and if you make the full payment, or just partial.

The best way around this is to not have ANY credit cards, including store charge cards. If you can’t afford to pay out of pocket, then you can’t afford it.

If your credit is damaged, you can get an annual free credit report, and challenge negative feedback on the report, and possibly even have some removed. When you get the report, you will be given options for what to do with anything negatively affecting your credit.

By Brian Prinz