If you’ve got a credit card, you’ll know just how useful they can be. ‘Buying now and paying later’ can help many of us make it to the end of unexpectedly expensive months.

Despite it being ‘debt’, the money you borrow on a credit card needn’t be a problem, providing you can afford to repay it. In general, it will only become a problem if it mounts up too much and/or you’re unable to afford your monthly repayments. If you’re worried about that happening, you should seek professional debt advice.

One of the main things that will influence how soon you clear your credit card debt is how well you manage it. On that note, have a think about how you manage your credit card debt – is there any way you could improve this?

We’re going to take a look at two methods of managing your credit card debt, to help you repay it as quickly as realistically possible.

Only borrow what you can afford to repay

First and foremost, you’ll only be able to manage your credit card debt if you take on a repayable amount. It may sound obvious, but if you borrow more than you can afford to repay, you’ll have no chance of managing it successfully.

So, before you pay for things using your credit card, have a think about whether you’re going to be able to repay the money you’re about to borrow. Maybe you’ve already got the money in your account, but it’s just more convenient to use your credit card? Or perhaps you know you’ll have the money when you get paid? Either way, it’s vital that you think about this before borrowing money.

Consider debt consolidation

If you’ve got several unsecured debts (they don’t all have to be credit card debts), that you can comfortably afford to repay, did you know you could simplify the way you manage these and potentially reduce the amount you have to pay each month?

A debt consolidation loan can be used to repay all your debts in one go – leaving you with just one debt to repay to just one creditor. This can really simplify the process of managing your debt each month – and, if you arrange to repay your debt consolidation loan over a longer period of time, you can make smaller payments each month. This can cost you a fair bit more in the long run, though, as the interest will simply have longer to accrue.

Please note: a debt consolidation loan won’t be suitable for you if you can’t consolidate all your unsecured debts, if you’ve got erratic earnings or if you can’t afford to repay the loan.

There are other ways you could tackle your credit card debts. For example, a debt management plan could help you repay your unsecured debts if you can’t actually keep up with the payments you’re supposed to be making. Debt management can affect your credit rating, but it can also help you get out of debt at a realistic rate.