To get a credit card or not is a very crucial question in one’s life. Anyone without a credit card is a non-entity if you need to live honorably and comfortably. However credit card is a double edged weapon also; if you do get a credit card but do not use it prudently, you lose whatever financial standing you may have in the eyes of your potential creditors. It is therefore extremely essential to be very careful in using your cards. Based on my personal experience, I have jotted down ten principles which can be very helpful when building your credit history

1.Really Necessary ? You will come across a large number of people who are deadly against keeping credit cards due to the risks involved. My advice? You must have credit cards and do not believe those who oppose it simply because they have certain pitfalls. Life is full of risks-even driving a car is dangerous if you do not follow the rules

2. How Many ? I personally recommend keeping three to five credit cards if you are lucky to get them. These are not only a hedge against emergency but also improve your credit ratings

3. Use Them ? You should not keep any of these cards dormant. Use all of your cards and try to make your maximum payments through these cards. This is an excellent way of maintaining your accounts and record of your expenditure. You should keep the monthly statements in a separate folder to keep track of your expenditure and also to find out which head of expenditure needs trimming.

4. How Much use ? You should not utilize more than 1/3rd of any card at any moment .In other words, all your cards should be in constant use but should not at any time cross this threshold of 1/3rd of their maximum limit .In case you have four cards, then this limit will be 1/4th in each card and in case of five cards, this will be 1/5th.

5. Monthly Payment? Clear all the balance if possible at the end of every month. . However in any case this amount should not be less than three times of the minimum amount due. Paying only minimum amount is not only a financial disaster but it also sends wrong signal about your financial health to the potential creditors

6. Yearly Clearance? You should make it a point to clear the entire amount due in each card once in a year if not every month as advised earlier.

7. Cash Withdrawal? Never draw cash from your credit card. It is better to borrow from your friends/family rather than withdrawing cash until it is really an emergency. Needless to emphasize, you would return the cash withdrawn in your first possible opportunity

8. Default ?Never let it happen. Delayed or lapsed monthly payment is a death warrant for your credit life.

9. Verification ? While it a legal requirement to obtain receipt of every purchase made, keeping them is a sound habit. Compare them at random with the monthly statements of respective cards to detect any variation and get its clarification immediately

10.Card Swapping ? Keep an eye on the deals available in the market .Exchange your expensive card with the cheaper one .But do read the fine print as it contains all the booby traps