The Mixed Joy of Credit Cards

A very good friend of mine told me the other day about a mutual friend’s credit cards debt. There i was whining about my credit card balance when she said “that’s nothing, so-and-so has $38,000 on her cards!”

I was totally shocked! My balance is tiny compared to that. What amazes me is that someone could let their credit card balances total up to such a high number. Unfortunately, as a stay at home mom it’s not like she can just use part of her salary to buy herself whatever she wants - that’s when her credit card stepped in.

With society the way it is these days and marketers being such experts at making us believe that we NEED to look like movie stars, or we are not attractive, i can, at least get a glimpse of how she may have felt she needed the designer clothes, hair extensions and er… “work done” so she could be the knockout she desires to be.

Add to her desire, the ability to get credit SO EASILY and you have a recipe for disaster. Marketers tell her she needs it; she starts to believe it; she gets a few credit cards and voila - we have a huge problem - or specifically, SHE does

Of course, she’s not the only one in debt. The majority of us are to some extent and really, it seems to me that that is where the credit card companies want us. After all, they earn money on the interest they charge us so it’s in their best interest if we CAN’T pay that balance off each month So what to do? Well, there ARE options.

The best method my friend is prevention. Control yourself and only put on a credit card what you can pay off each month. If you can’t control your spending, leave your credit cards at home,; lower their limits so you can’t go too far into debt; or promise yourself you will not buy anything other than groceries until you have had 24 hours to think about whether you REALLY need it THEN you can use your credit card

If you are already in debt, my favorite solution is to transfer balances to other cards with lower interest rates. You simply compare credit cards by phoning each company you deal with and ask if they have any deals for balance transfers. Many companies do this and you can find yourself transferring a balance from a card that charges 20% interest to a card that will give you 3% interest or even 0% credit cards if your credit history warrants it

Whatever you do, don’t get overwhelmed and feel like there is nothing you can do. You can always visit the bank and discuss your options with them; there are always solutions

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