More and more people are using credit cards to stay afloat nowadays. With so many unemployed, credit cards are a great way to get through some tough times. Yet it is very important to ensure you can pay your credit card minimum monthly payments. You don’t want a bad credit rating to ruin a possible job opportunity. Many employers now do check credit reports as well as conducting background and criminal history checks. Using a credit card for the bare necessities is acceptable to most, yet you must determine what is necessary and what isn’t. A cell phone and cable TV are not necessities. Just because you have a credit card to pay for them doesn’t mean you have to have them.