Responsible use of a credit card does not really exist unless you are paying it off in full every month. Credit card debt reduction is an all too common requirement and is becoming a really big problem on a world wide scale. There is not a positive side to the use of a credit card. Sooner or later you see something that you would like and the idea of paying it off over 3 months perhaps sets in. Then you need to use it because some 'unforeseen' debt crops up and before you know it, there are a few thousand dollars on it.
Using cash to pay for things feels better. There is nothing worse than seeing that credit card statement come in and the interest on it alone would have paid for your new tires this month or got new school uniforms for your children.
The best option if want the convenience of ordering things over the telephone, is to use a debit card. You still get the ability to pay for mail order items, or over the internet, but it acts like cash, if there is no money in your account, it will not transact.
Personal finances are really mostly to do with your behavior. There are bad spending habits and good spending habits and only you can make the positive changes that will get you out of debt.
If at all possible and you have teenagers, never encourage them to have a credit card. It all starts in adolescence. Teenagers these days think that once they have a driver's license, a credit card and a mobile phone that they become adults.
Banks use a marketing strategy often referred to as Brand Loyalty. The first bank to offer a credit card to a teenager, certifying their adulthood, normally gets to keep that person as a customer as teenagers are very loyal to the bank that issued their very first credit card.
So the very first thing to begin your credit card debt reduction is to freeze your credit card in a plastic box in the freezer so you cannot use it freely. The second thing to do is to pay off that debt. You will be so much happier when you know that the money you earn is for you, and not to pay off your credit card debt.
