HOW TO DO IT: Learn the difference between these four things and you’ll be golden:

Your statement balance — the total amount you owed when your most recent billing cycle ended.

Your minimum payment — the smallest amount you’re required to pay by the due date.

Your due date — the date by which your payment must be received to avoid being late.

Your APR — the annual percentage rate, or the interest rate you’ll pay on balances you carry.

Here’s my most important “nagging Dad” tip: Paying only the minimum can keep you in debt for an extremely long time. Whenever possible, pay your full statement balance by the due date.

If you have a card with a 22% APR and owe $50, but pay that $50 statement balance off on time, you still only owe the credit-card company $50. No interest. Simple!

But to see how interest can snowball, imagine that $50 balance just sitting there untouched at roughly that same APR. After a year, it would be around $62.

You might be thinking, Wait, 22% of $50 is only $11. And you’re right! But credit-card interest generally accrues as your balance grows, so over time you can wind up paying interest on interest that was previously added too. Leave that same theoretical $50 compounding for five years and it could grow to roughly $150 — about three times what you originally spent.

And real life can be even worse. Miss a required payment and you may get hit with a late fee; once you’re 30 days past due, the delinquency may also be reported to the credit bureaus and hurt your credit. Depending on the card and circumstances, other penalties may apply too.

So listen to Dad and pay off that statement balance whenever you can.