Credit card bills are amongst some of the highest bills that you will have and, unfortunately, in a lot of cases, they are more than can really be afforded.

A person’s use of their credit cards is what dictates if they will have any problems. Excessive and unnecessary spending, is the main reason for credit card troubles, a severe lack of discipline or control when it comes to spending will often put people in heavy debt very quickly. The repayments on this heavy debt often puts extreme financial pressure on card holders as the end of the month bill is usually more than they can afford to pay.

However much your monthly bill is, paying it is an absolute necessity in order to avoid credit card fees and penalties.

There are different types of penalties and fees attached to credit cards, all of which are avoidable through good financial management. If the following simple measures are taken there is no reason why you should ever see a fee on your end of month statement.

1. Paying in full and on time!

It may sound obvious, but the best way to avoid any fees is to pay your bill on time and in full. The only way you will be able to do this is to only spend that which you can afford to repay in full at the end of the month.

When a person first gets a credit card the main reason for doing so is to provide help with personal cashflow, ensuring that there are readily available funds if needed that can be used until the end of the month when they would be repaid in full.

Unfortunately, it never works out like that for most people, and to be fair to them, the credit card providers know that this is the case. If it wasn’t they, the card providers, would never make any money!

When people are unable to make payment in full at the end of the month they incur the most common credit card fee, finance or interest charges. Most credit card companies offer a certain period of interest free borrowing, this is usually between 30 and 45 days after this period of time they will charge what is usually a high interest rate on any outstanding balance.

As mentioned, the best way to avoid these interest payments is to repay in full at the end of the month, however, if you needed a large amount of money for a specific purpose, and you knew that you would not be able to repay it at the end of the month it would be better to look at other ways of obtaining these funds. Using your credit card to fund higher than normal spending will mean that you will incur high interest rate charges rather than paying much lower interest rates for a short-term personal loan.

2. Avoiding late fees.

The worse thing about being charged late fees is that they are mostly avoidable and are usually  incurred because of a lack of organization rather than a lack of money. Ensuring you have organized your finances by writing down repayment dates and times on something like a fridge planner will stop this from happening.

However, if you have started missing or being late for payments because you haven’t got the money to make the necessary payments then it is time to seek some credit counseling to get advice on how to approach your credit card provider to deal with this issue before it gets to big a problem.

Although you will be charged fees initially, prompt action and recognition of the problem may get these charges rescinded. Ignoring the situation and doing nothing will only help the situation snowball to such a point that the problem becomes severe.

There are several other fees that credit card companies can impose on you and they will vary depending upon the credit card provider. Being aware of a the various different charges and fees and how they are calculated is the best way to avoid being stung by them.

‘Ignorance is bliss’, is not a saying one should use when referring to credit card fees!