Ignoring a problem just makes it get bigger. When you don't pay something you owe,it accumulates collection fees & penalties. These extra fees are called stupid tax for waiting around instead of taking care of a problem. Find a way to pay what you owe.

Too many young people are getting into credit because they are desperate to establish credit.

I would offer the following advice to anyone using credit cards for the first time or who has ever got into trouble through the misuse of credit cards. It is good advice, and it will save you many problems.

1. Never use a credit card to buy anything that is not in your budget for the month (which means, in turn, that you will need a budget). It is tempting to use a credit card when you are on vacation and run out of your allocated vacation funds, or when you need clothes but don’t have the money to take advantage of the great sale in progress, or when you need tires for the car but don’t have the money saved, or when you’re out of work and need food, utilities, and rent. But when you use a credit card as a buffer in place of trusting God, you may fall into a trap that will take you a long time to dig yourself out of.

2. Pay the entire credit card bill each month. I have since discovered that using credit cards or any credit wisely is not just a matter of being able to pay them off on time. Credit cards are the number one tool for impulse buying in our society. And impulse buying is generally the prerequisite for indulgent buying. Simply put, consumers will buy things they don’t need and pay more for them, using credit.

Credit is also less personal than cash in your pocket, and people tend to use it more carelessly. If you don’t pay the credit card charges every month, you will pay a usurious rate of interest. In addition, by accumulating credit card charges you run the risk of debt.

3. The first month you find yourself unable to pay the total charges, destroy the cards. The problem is not the use of credit. It is the misuse of credit.