There’s a rumor floating around that you need to carry over a balance from month to month on your cards in order to build credit. That’s not true. If you want to build credit, you should aim to pay your credit card bill on time. The danger of carrying a balance month to month means you’ll end up paying more in the long term. If you’re unable to pay the balance off, at the very least, you should ensure to make the minimum payment asked for.

If your credit card balances start to overwhelm you, you should consider a balance transfer card. Ideally, you’d want one with a 0 percent introductory APR period.