Your early 20’s are your most crucial years when it comes to managing your money, and it’s up to you whether you build a stable foundation for the future or you destroy it with debt.

Something our parents didn’t teach us is that when you turn 20 years old, is that you become ”prey” to credit card offers, and it could result in a messy situation if you don’t manage your debt properly.

We all love spending on nice things but we often find ourselves without the budget, so we go the credit route.

Having a good credit score is very important because you will have to buy a house or a car in future. Unless you are from a wealthy family, it will be very hard for you to pay for such items at once, so you will be required to pay for them in instalments, failure to pay accounts and having a bad credit score will lead to banks denying your loan application.

Here are 5 tips to keeping a good credit score:

1. Pay your bills on time: Paying your bills on time keeps credit providers from calling you at inconvenient times which could sometimes lead to embarrassing situations.

2. Write down all your expenses: Working out all of your expenses and knowing how much you owe at each credit provider is always the best solution because you then have knowledge of the amount of money you spend on bills.

3. Avoid using credit for gifts: Buying someone a gift they will appreciate is always awesome but use cash instead because credit is paid for in interest.

4. Do not spend more than you earn on credit: Having credit doesn’t mean using it all once, watch how you spend and always have a monthly limit.

5. Make sure your balances are low: When your balances are low paying your credit cards becomes very affordable and easy to maintain.

Another important tip, if you find yourself in debt already and are struggling to keep up, contact a Debt advisor and receive assistance before it is too late.
Sources: National Debt Advisors
The Balance