Regardless of what the news may tell you and leading economists may say credit in and of itself is not evil. It is the running up of credit you cannot afford to pay that gets you in trouble and this is also the kind of credit problems that the country experiences too. A deficit is when the country spends more than it has coming in and then has to extend its credit with banks in order to pay the bills. That is an extremely simplified explanation but the point is that you are not alone and everyone could use some good credit card debt advice.

Unfortunately, getting credit card debt advice that is beneficial in real world situations is not easy since many people who offer such advice have rather fanatical ideas. Anyone who suggests that people should not have or use credit cards at all simply is not being realistic. Consider the following tips that are designed to be useful in the real world.

Limit Yourself to Just One

About the best credit card debt advice you can get is if you do not already belong to a credit union then join one. Then go into your credit union and ask them for a credit card with a decent sized limit that you can use but is not outrageous.

The credit limit on your credit card will not be raised by a credit union unless they first contact you to give you notice of the increase. Using cash to make purchases, however, is always preferable to raising your credit limit. Credit unions also tend to charge interest rates of ten percent or sometimes even less on credit card accounts. You can expect that this rate will remain stable instead of getting higher and higher.

Emergency Back Up

The idea of buying something now and paying for it later is simply too tempting; everyone will make some kind of foolish purchase on their credit card at least once. It is important, though, that you do not allow this to become a habit. Keep your credit card to be used as an emergency back up plan, not the first line of attack.

Make sure you have the necessary funds to pay for it when you give into the temptation to use your credit card to make a slightly irresponsible purchase. Remember, though, that you do not have a credit card to use that way. Its only for back up.