There are always lessons to be learned and a credit card can teach you a lot about being wise when you handle money. This includes seeing the difference between buying an item randomly in desperation vs. acquiring it strategically over time, paying off your cards to ensure their longevity, and deferring payments to make things easier for yourself down the road.
To avoid mistakes, pay attention to the following 5 credit card mistakes that customers most often make:
Not Making Timely Payments
Far too many are guilty of this mistake. In some cases, people just forget to make their payments, but in other instances, they are just ignorant and feel like there would be no repercussions. But this is far from the truth as there are quite serious consequences upon missing these payments. It is always bad to let your payment date exceed a delay of 30 days, as doing so could result in your credit score getting affected by 9-12 points. This deduction could increase even further if the delay crosses
Making Multiple Credit Card Requests
You should never abuse your credit card just for the sake of applying for more. The reason for this is because multiple inquiries on your report can set you back in interest rates, and loans as well affect your earning ability unless you terminate them early. Applying once every six months is all that’s required by the most reliable of financial institutions.
Not reviewing your bills
It is necessary for you to keep tracking all of the transactions that appear on your credit card statement in order to keep an easy check on any potential errors. Inquire about your statements at least once a week and more often if necessary.
Maxing out your credit card
If you find yourself reaching your credit card limit every month but have no problem clearing the bill, then you can always call up your credit card company and request for a refresh. These 5 mistakes could cost you thousands of dollars as they may cause your utilization rate to spike and take a toll on your credit score.
These are the top 5 credit card errors that are most frequently made
There are a lot of reasons why using your credit card incorrectly is never worth it: often adding extra fees, an easy access for identity theft and possibly damaging your credit rating.