Change your spending behaviors. Credit cards although helpful and necessary on many occasions often give us the impression that we have the ability to spend limitlessly. The line between need and want becomes crossed, so we spend and face expensive consequences 30 or 60 days later when the bill arrives. Staying out of debt for the long term requires a shift in behavior and spending habits. Life will always have unavoidable circumstances that may cause us to spend money that we hadn’t planned to spend. Constantly living one step ahead of debt for the wants may put you in a bad position when the needs arise. Always anticipate the unplanned. Changing spending behaviors now will help you to avoid bankruptcy in the future.

Cut up the cards. Learning to spend within our means is one thing that credit cards do not help us do. Actually it’s quite the opposite. Credit cards allow us to spend beyond our means and sometimes even beyond our credit limits. The consequences come later. If you find yourself using your card too regularly purchase items that you don’t need or can’t afford chances are you are heading towards a pile of debt. If you have a tendency to impulse spend, just having a credit card is a license to spend. Cutting up that credit card can be the first step towards avoiding debt or bankruptcy.

Maintain one emergency credit card. Identify what is considered an emergency and then vow only to use the card in certain situations. An emergency may be an uncovered medical expense, a vehicle that needs immediate repair, purchasing a last minute plane ticket to see a relative who is ill. You should define for yourself ahead of time what constitutes an emergency and limit the emergency card use to only those things that fit that definition.

Financial planning or consumer credit counseling can be beneficial. These types of financial programs are typically offered, some even free of charge, by your employer or your financial institution. Taking advantage of these benefits can help you to change behaviors that lead to debt. These services can assist you in developing good spending behaviors and a sound action plan to keep you out of debt.

Consolidation is an option. If you have more than two credit cards consolidating is often a beneficial step towards managing debt. Every credit card carries a balance, a finance charge and an annual fee. Eliminating the fees on all but one credit card can be the difference between keeping your head above water and sliding head first into debt. Consolidation provides credit card consumers with an option to combine all of their payments into one. This means one payment, one fee and one annual charge. Do your homework and decide which card gives the best benefit and consolidate the others under the card that has the lowest overall fees and payment. A simple step such as consolidation is often the advantage some need to avoid bankruptcy due to credit card debt.