This One Move Could Help You Avoid Credit Card Debt in 2023

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It’s an easy step worth taking. 

When it comes to managing my money, I’ve made my share of mistakes. For example, there was a point when I was too scared to invest in stocks, so I didn’t, and I lost out on higher returns for many years. I’ve since corrected for that by opening a brokerage account and buying stocks.

I’ve also, in recent years, failed to budget enough for home repairs, resulting in several big withdrawals from my savings account. In light of that, I’ve taken to padding my budget to allow for more spending on home repairs. And I’ve taken on extra work to put back the money I had to remove from my emergency fund.

But if there’s one financial mistake I’ve actually never fallen victim to, it’s racking up interest on my credit cards by carrying a balance forward. Rather, I’ve always managed to pay my credit card bills in full. And that’s spared me not just interest charges, but also, credit score damage.

See, you may not realize it, but even if you make your minimum credit card payments on time every month, your credit score can still take a hit if you owe a lot of money on your credit cards. That’s because using too much of your available credit can have a negative impact, even if you’re up-to-date with your minimum payments.

Meanwhile, one simple habit has helped me avoid credit card debt through the years. And it’s a habit I suggest you adopt as well — especially since it’s a really easy one.

Keeping tabs on your credit card spending could work wonders

I make a point to check my credit card balances every week. In fact, this is something I’ve done pretty much since I opened my first credit card account. And I firmly believe that’s helped me avoid landing in credit card debt.

The upside of checking your credit card balances weekly is that you’ll get a heads-up if your spending starts to put you at risk of debt. Let’s say you know you can only afford to pay $2,000 toward your credit cards each month, and by the midpoint of the month, you’re already at $1,500. That might set off a signal in your brain to cut back on spending during the second half of the month to avoid ending up with a balance you can’t pay off.

A move worth making

Checking your credit card balances every week might take a little time — especially if you have several credit card accounts you actively use. But it’s important to make that effort, because it could be just the thing that prevents you from winding up with credit card debt.

Of course, this strategy has its limitations. Let’s say you can afford $2,000 a month in credit card charges and by the third week of the month, you’re at $1,800. You might do everything you can to spend very carefully during those last seven days before your balance rolls over to a new month. But if you end up needing an emergency $500 car repair and you don’t have the money in savings, well, you’re probably going to have to carry a $300 balance forward at least.

But emergency situations aside, checking your credit card balances every week could really help you steer clear of debt and the costly interest charges that tend to come with it. So schedule some time to tackle that task and make it a recurring appointment on your personal calendar so you don’t forget or run out of time to do it.

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