7 Bad Credit Card Habits to break this Year

The most common example of this is smoking. People initially begin to smoke during parties or social gatherings and quickly become addicted to the nicotine rush. Gradually with time, the habit becomes stronger and difficult to get rid of.

Similarly, bad credit card habits are evil. They can disturb your finances and land you into a debt trap. Unhealthy credit card practices lead to can ruin your credit score and affect your financial stability and goals in the long run. Although it might seem hard to quit your bad credit card habit, it is not impossible. Cardholders can start off by making minor adjustments that would reflect in the form of result which will motive the cardholder to increase the effort and break the bad habits.

If you’ve been struggling with credit card repayments and outstanding tips don’t worry! In this article, we will be sharing some of the common bad credit card habits that can disturb your finances and budget.

So here we go,

Keeping too many cards in your wallet

Easy access to credit and banking services in today’s era has allowed credit cards to make way into everybody’s pockets. Credit cards offer easy and quick access to credit that is responsible for tempting credit holders to overspend. The simple rule to keep your expenditure under control is to carry only one credit card instead of carrying multiple credit cards. Furthermore, in case of theft or loss, card owners should immediately inform the financial institution or the credit card provider to make sure your card is not subject to any malpractice.

Pulling your Credit Card Instead of Debit Card

Ideally, credit card holders should try and minimize the use of credit cards over debit cards. One of the situations where you can choose to use a credit card over your debit card is to accumulate reward points in order to get some additional discount or cashback. Your debit card should be the preferred medium for managing your day to day expenses. However, if you prefer using your credit cards for making all your purchases you should be extra cautious. Moreover, you should be ready with a proper plan so that you don’t miss any repayments that would lead to the imposition of heavy interest or late fees.

Paying Minimum

Credit card providers offer a feature of minimum payment that many times helps cardholders to manage their expenses during months when the finances are disturbed. Making minimum payment will ensure that your card keeps working however it does not help you to pay your entire credit card bills on time. When cardholders pay a minimum amount they have to pay extra than what they are supposed to pay due to extra finance charges. Cardholders should try and pay more than the minimum amount which will help them to save interest charges and reach closer to completely paying off the balance.

Using Credit Card for Cash Advances

Credit cards allow cardholders to withdraw cash during emergencies. Cash transactions are the most expensive transactions due to the imposition of a very high rate of interest that comes without a grace period. Once you withdraw cash using your credit card you are charged right from the very same moment. Moreover, in the case of cash transactions, cardholders are supposed to pay cash advances every time a credit card is used to withdraw cash.

In a real-time scenario, credit cards are not suitable for being a source of cash and are meant to reduce physical currency. If you are stuck in the habit of withdrawing cash using your credit card you should get rid of it as soon as possible to avoid any hassle.

Purchasing Things that You can’t Afford

One of the main habits that are often responsible for landing cardholders into a debt trap is purchasing products and things that you can’t afford. Easy access to credit tempts cardholders to purchase expensive things without realizing that it can disturb their finances and lead to trouble. The correct approach to avoid any hassle is to save for some time until you manage to gather enough money to purchase the desired product.

Cardholders should purchase products after proper financial analysis. If you want something but are unable to afford it, work hard and save for it instead of simply opting for credit that can land you into a debt trap.

Making late Repayments

Paying your credit card bills late from the scheduled date will lead to the imposition of late fees and interest. On the other hand, timely repayments will not only save your money on late fees and interest but it will also improve your credit rating.

If you are one of those who always forget to make timely repayments, you can auto-schedule your payment on a fixed date to ensure timely payments.

Losing Track of Credit Card Rewards

Credit cards offer lucrative discounts and rewards when compared to any other mode of payment. However many cardholders never monitor the reward points that they have accumulated using their credit card for making different purchases. Many providers have a particular time frame in order to utilize reward points after which they are expired. So if you don’t claim your reward points timely they might expire and you would miss out on all the exciting offers, rewards and discounts.

Conclusion

Credit cards are truly a modern-day marvel; almost half of the total transactions carried out globally are via plastic. Credit cards can act as a boon for mankind if used with proper precision and care. However, if you are using your credit card irresponsibly you are highly prone to falling into a debt trap.

Healthy credit card practices help cardholders to extract the maximum benefit out of the financial tool. Cardholders should try and quit the above-mentioned habits to avoid any sort of financial trouble due to the use of credit cards.