Why do we all grow up hearing that it’s important to save but no one ever seems to take that cloned credit cards uk? Most people are in debt, that’s just a fact. Think of what debt really does mean. It means that we are committing money we haven’t made yet to things we have already bought or consumed. So we are always playing catch up with our finances. We make a certain amount of money every week but it never seems enough for us. Even if we make good money we still can’t control it. Why is that?
Credit cards are probably the biggest vehicle that drives us into debt. Notice I did not blame our debt on the cards, they are just the transportation we choose to take us to Debt City. Credit cards aren’t bad, they can be bad for us because they are convenient. We can’t blame our card because we signed up for it. So first let’s just take responsibility that we are the reason we are in debt and go from there. I have a credit card and I use it. Like most people I have a family and sometimes things come up. Expensive things. Things I can’t pay for because I’m supporting a family of five on one income. Fair enough, I have explained my situation just as anyone else can justify why they have a card. However I have realized I don’t want to live this way forever. If you have debt you have stress. Join me in accepted that this is where I am but not where I will stay.
I had a light bulb moment the other day and want to share it with you. First you need to know that I work in a financial institution. I was talking to a customer who was making an LOC payment which means line of credit payment. A line of credit is exactly what it sounds like. It is usually a larger amount of money the bank has offered the customer to use just like a credit card. It works like a credit card in the fact that you can use as much of the limit as you want and make monthly payments the same as a credit card. So if you learn nothing else from this article you’ve learned something about a type of bank loan. I knew my teaching experience would come in handy someday. Back to the point this man was well into his fifties or even sixties so I figured he had a better grasp on his financials than I did. So as he’s making his payment I make a comment about how long until he paid it off. He responded, “I’ll be paying on this until I die, nobody can get ahead these days.” Really, is that true or is it a choice? I know it’s not true because of where I work I see people who are his age who have intentionally built a savings. This made me very determined to NOT be where this man is when I am his age.
Alright so back to credit cards. Right now I need a credit card but I am being smart about it. Do you know that with all of the credit card companies fighting over whose card you are going to use that some of them are offering 0% for 12 or even 18 months. If we are going to use credit cards we need to at least be smart enough to use them wisely. None of us have any business using a credit card that is costing us 10%-25% to use. That’s where the credit card companies make you pay literally. So if we are going to play the credit card game, master the game. Know what cards are offered and by what companies. You can use this thing called Google to find credit card promos decide which one is the best for you. Notice I didn’t say ten. Having ten credit cards is just a train wreck waiting to happen if it hasn’t happened yet. Limit yourself because the more cards you have the more you will be tempted to use them. Having too many cards is not good for you or for your credit score. Use one or two cards that offer you the best value. They will be easier to keep up with when making payments which decreases late payments which leads to lower credit scores. Control your cards, don’t be controlled by them.
So how should you use a credit card? Sparingly, that’s how. Every time we use a card we add a little more stress to our lives. Using a card almost feels good at the time because it didn’t come out of our bank account and we still have cash in our pocket. The flip side is when that bill comes and you did set aside anything to pay it. It is not a magic card. Use it when you need to use it. If you pay with cash or debit card you may not feel like you’re getting away with something but come the end of the month you won’t have to deal with that extra bill.
