The benefits of a credit card help you to understand when you should make use of them. As far as I can see, there are really only two advantages to having a credit card over a regular debit card. The first of these is security - when doing online shopping (as many of us tend to do now), there is very little to use that is safer than a credit card. As it doesn't really have access to all of your savings (assuming you have any), if someone happens to gain access to your details, it is not the end of the world. The second major advantage of a credit card is that you can pay for everything at once instead of in small increments. Personally, I find this useful, as I receive a monthly salary, and so after receiving this and paying off my credit card bill, anything I have left over is the savings for the month, which I can then move into a higher interest account and wait for the next month.

So this brings us to the question of when it is appropriate to use a credit card. The first of these, as mentioned before, is when doing online shopping. It is always a better idea to use credit cards here than other cards. However, a credit card should not be used as a monthly loan. You should not assume that you have however much money your credit limit amounts to, e.g. £1000 to use for that month as you wish. This is the easiest way to get carried away, and if you are unable to pay the amount that you spend when your bill comes, you start to pay the wages for the nice people at the credit card company.

'Use as you need' is probably the most appropriate way to use a credit card. I never use a credit card to make purchases that I would not otherwise make, e.g. I would not buy a TV with my credit card unless I would buy it regardless of whether or not I have a credit card, i.e. I have the money to buy what I have in the first place. This makes sure that you can reap the rewards of a credit card without having to pay large sums of money for not getting the money paid back to them on time, going over your limit etc. The final piece of advice is to always try and have a good idea of how much you are spending. Credit limits always seem to amount to little on a spending spree, and going even a few pennies over the limit could cost you £50, if not a lot more. Therefore, always being 'safe rather than sorry' is the best way to go about with your spending.

To conclude, use it as though you were using a debit card, and make sure that you use it to give yourself an extra layer of protection in areas of higher risk.