I can never afford to repay the balance in full:

If you use your credit card but can’t afford to pay it off in full each month, go for a card with an introductory purchase offer or a low standard rate.

There are a number of deals which have interest-free introductory periods. These can be great for those who don’t clear their balance each month. However, once the interest free period ends, you will be charged the standard rate of interest which will probably be between 12 per cent and 20 per cent. You therefore need to make sure you have paid your debt off by that time, or make a balance transfer and move it to another card.

Some people don’t want the hassle of having to shop around for a new credit card every six to 12 months in which case a card with a low standard rate of interest is worth considering.

If you’ve built up a debt on an existing card, look to move it over to a product offering a low balance transfer rate. Plenty of cards have introductory offers on both purchases and balance transfers - often 0% for both. If you want a card for both purposes make sure the introductory periods end at the same time, otherwise you’ll be caught in the payment hierarchy trap mentioned above where the cheapest debt is cleared firs.

The other alternative is to have a card for each purpose – one for purchases and one for your balance transfer.

Click to compare cards with low purchase rates, introductory offers on purchases and balance transfers, all balance transfer cards.

I’ve got an outstanding debt I want to get rid of:

It is very easy to run up a debt on a credit card but paying it off can be much harder. UK card holders owed an average of £2,060 each in 2007, according to Apacs, the clearing service. Re-paying this amount of money can take years unless you are disciplined.

The first thing to do is make sure you pay off more than the minimum each month. Card providers insist you make a repayment every month but the amount you have to pay tend to be very low – often around 2% of the outstanding balance or £5, whichever is greater. If this is all you pay each month it could take years to clear your debt as you’ll be repaying little more than the monthly interest charges. In order to clear your debt as quickly as possible, you therefore need to work out the maximum you can afford to repay each month.

The other important thing to do is minimise the interest you pay. There are plenty of credit card deals offering interest free periods on balance transfers, so take advantage of one of these. You will have to pay a transfer fee of 2% to 3%, which will be added to your balance, but this is worth paying if you can avoid being charged a high rate of interest.

The best balance transfer offers last for at least 12 months. If possible aim to have your debt cleared within that time. If you cannot do that, make a note of when the introductory offer expires - you can then move your balance over to another 0% deal and continue to avoid interest charges.

If you think you’ll be slow to switch when the introductory period expires or don’t want the hassle of continually churning your debt, then a card with a low lifetime balance transfer rate could be your best bet.

Whichever card you choose remember that any new spend will incur interest at the standard rate and, in the majority of cases, will be cleared after any debt charged at the promotional rate. Click here to compare all balance transfer rates, including 0% deals.

Next: What type of credit card is best for me? (continued)