Everyone owns a credit card these days. Some people manage to handle their credit cards well while others end up paying penalties, late payment fees, and higher interest rates. Inefficient management of your credit card can also ruin your credit score. So, here are some of the common credit card mistakes you should not make.

1. Making minimum payments every time
One of the common credit card mistakes that people often commit is making a minimum payment every cycle. While you can get away with making minimum payments when you are short of cash, remember that high interest rates will be levied on the amount that they carry forward in the next cycle. Over the next few months, you may have to pay a lot as interest.

2. Skipping payments
Another common mistake that is going to affect you financially is not making payments on time. Credit card companies charge a late fee, even if you are one day late in paying your bills. When you do not pay your bills for an entire month, your credit score takes a hit.

3. Not understanding your credit card
If you thought monthly bill payments are the only financial responsibilities you have for your credit card, you are wrong. Not knowing the other fees, you may have to incur is another one of the common credit card mistakes. Some fees to keep in mind are annual fees, foreign transaction fees, balance-transfer fee, annual purchase rate, interest rates for late payments. Depending on these, you can select the right credit card company.

4. Lending your credit card to others
It is generally not right to lend your credit card to someone else. If the person misuses the card or if there is physical/virtual theft from the card, and proofs show that you were not the one handling the card, you will not be able to take the case forward legally.

5. Not having a spending limit
Having a credit card does not indicate that you have unlimited purchasing power. When you do not have control and end up spending your credit card to its maximum limit every month, you are going to struggle to pay for it later.

6. Closing an old credit card account
Another of the common credit card mistakes that cost people their credit score is closing an old credit card account. When you have a pre-existing account with a credit card company and have been paying the bills on time, retain the card just to improve your credit score. You do not have to use the card if you don’t wish to.

All these common credit card mistakes can bring down your credit score, and you may have to pay extra money as penalties and fees. Avoid all these mistakes and make the best use of your card.