Attention all credit card owners! Did you know that the average US family has 7000$ in credit card debt and spends about 1000$ in interest annually?

Do you know why does it happen? The answer is that most of us still don't know how to use credit cards. Here are 10 dumb ways to use your credit cards, beware! Don't make these mistakes:

1) Choose credit card with high interest rate, big annual fee and without rewards.

It is obvious that your credit card has to have good conditions to be a useful financial tool! If you plan to carry balance from month to month, credit cards with no annual fee and low percentage rate will be the best ones for you.

2) Make your payments late.

One of my friends-Josh had a good credit card history, but for some reason he was always paying his bills a day late. He thought that it was just a day, so there will be no problems at all, but he was no wrong! Soon Josh has discovered that a late payment is the fastest and the easiest way to lower his credit score! His fees were very high and added very quickly. That was a good lesson for him! Now he knows very well that all payments have to be made on time or what's even better-ahead of time.

3) Pay the minimum payment.

Most people incorrectly assume that they are doing well paying the minimum payment on their cards. You should remember that it will take you years to pay off the debt if you pay only a minimum payment. You will end up paying twice as much as your original account.

4) Get as many cards as you want.

It is difficult to keep track on many credit cards. That is what happened to another friend of mine. He had too many credit cards: some offered discounts, others cash back on gasoline, air miles, etc. Eventually he had forgotten to pay off the debt on two of them. As you can understand it gave him a lot of trouble with his credit score and credit history! You probably will be surprised, but according to the specialists it's enough to owe a good American Express or a MasterCard to enjoy all the benefits and rewards.

5) Spend! Spend! Spend!

Of course it feels great to buy something you can't afford at the moment, but think carefully about that. Buy only things that you really need! Think about many days you will have to work to pay off your purchase!

6) Share your card with a friend.

My neighbor Susie once got into an unpleasant situation. Her old friend Mary doesn't have a credit card. And it was a reason for that as it turned out Mary didn't pay her bills and was a very irresponsible young lady with bad credit history. Susie didn't know that and as a real friend let Mary use her card whenever she needed it. Sure, Mary never paid Susie back for her purchases. And Susie, as a credit card owner, had to pay herself. That was the end of trust as well as the end of their friendship.

7) Use cash advance from one card to pay the debt on another.

It may sound unbelievable, but people are still doing it! Remember! Cash advance it is not the way out to fight the debt on another card! Visa versa; it leads to big financial problems!

8) Hide the debt from your wife or husband.

This situation happened to Phil and Jennifer. They were married for 4 years, when Jennifer started shopping like crazy! She used family credit cards to pay for all the stuff she was buying. Eventually her family got a huge credit card debt! At first she was hiding it, but then she decided to share her problems with Phil. They set down and discussed how they are going to pay it off. They gathered their strength as well as their finance and handled this situation. They are still married and happy. But you have to know that money is in top 5 reasons why couples get divorced! Sometimes you just can't ‘fight' the debt alone!

9) Don't keep your personal information private.

Did you know that the biggest part of credit theft is done by someone who knows the victim personally? So your visitors and even friends can be the #1 suspect. Keep your personal information private! Burn all the junk mail you get and don't pay with your card on the unknown web sites!

10) Pretend that you don't have a problem.

If you really want to get in trouble with your credit card debt, simply ignore the problem, then it will only get worse.

What you really have to do-is to ask for help. Credit counseling agencies will educate you on money management skills, will help you to set a budget and to build an excellent credit history.

Hope this article will help you not to make mistakes and be a wise credit card owner!

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