If you have a credit card, you have to make monthly payments every single month. If you miss a payment, you will be punished with late fees, higher APRs, higher minimum monthly payments, and possibly even mars on your credit that could prevent you from getting important loans in the future. Make sure that you pay the minimum amount due every month. Whenever possible, pay more than the minimum amount due. The sooner you pay of the debt, the less you will have to pay in interest.
Don’t give out your credit card information
Even if you are responsible with your credit card, others may not be. Do not let other people get a hold of your credit card information. Be careful not to lose your card; if you do lose it, call your credit card company immediately. Also be cautious when making purchases with your credit card. Specifically, do not buy from online businesses that you do not trust. Even if the company is not a scam, the site might not be secure, meaning that other people could retrieve your credit card information. If you want to buy from a small online company, try making payments through a secure site, such as PayPal, which is set up for this purpose. If you suspect that your credit card information may have gotten into the wrong hands, do not hesitate to contact your credit card company.
While online, do not give out your credit card information in response to emails or pop up advertisements. The message may say that the request is from a reliable business with whom you have done business, but this is almost certainly a lie. Legitimate businesses do not use these methods to get credit card information; additionally, if a business should have your information, they probably already do. This type of scam, known as phishing, is used to trick people into giving out their credit card information. If you see such a request, do not respond to it. If you think the request may be legitimate, which is not at all likely, contact the business to double check. Do not use any email addresses or phone numbers provided in the suspicious email or pop up. Also, forward any phishing emails to spam@uce.gov so that the Federal Trade Commission can check it out and prevent other people from being tricked.