Many people willmax out their credit cards while holiday shopping. You are now risking going over your credit limit once the finance charges kick in. When a balance is over 10% to 20% of your credit limit, it has a negative impact on your credit score.
Buying more gifts than you can afford will only cause trouble for you in the near future.
Do not go shopping without a budget. Going shopping without a limit will make it very easy to charge more than you can afford. Before leaving your house to go shopping, you should figure out exactly how much you can afford to spend.
Once a budget is made, make sure to keep up with it. Keep all of your receipts and check your account to make sure you are not spending too much every now and than.
Many are guilty of opening a new account just to get discounts. Plenty of retail shops try to convince their customers to sign up for the store credit cards for better discounts on purchases. You will be risking charging more than you can afford, in return affecting your credit score.
Never let someone else go holiday shopping with your credit card. You won’t have any idea how much they are spending and if your card borrower does not pay, you will have to have extra money to pay for their balance.
Be careful not to leave your card somewhere while shopping. Your credit card is targeted this time of the year more than ever. Never let your cards get out of your sight.
If you are using your credit card to buy gifts because you don’t have cash chances are you can’t really afford the gifts anyway. If you don’t have money for gifts, don’t resort to credit. Instead, consider regifting items you’ve received or give homemade gifts.
Charging gifts for yourself because you “deserve” them. It can be hard walking around the stores for weeks without getting anything for yourself. You’re going to see things you want to buy, but practice some self-discipline. Remember that while you’re out getting gifts for others, there are people out buying gifts for you.
Ignoring your post-holiday billing statement. If you kept track of how much you spent, you can already guess that your first credit card billing statement will be higher than normal. Facing it sooner rather than later will help you get rid of that high balance sooner rather than later.