Spending less on credit cards
Credit cards are great at getting us what we want, but they are also one of the worst problems in our country. Credit cards seem so convenient, and in many respects they are. You get a little piece of plastic in the mail that can be used like cash at just about any location. There are hardly any limits on what you can buy with a credit card. And credit card companies are more than happy to send you a new one. Even without verifying your credit or history they will extend you several lines of credit without any questions. It is great to be able to purchase things that we normally would not be able to, but there are some serious limits we need to consider. Among other things, credit cards often come with low interest rates but then quickly change them. Almost overnight you can see a three percent card go to twenty five percent. And if you only pay back the minimum payment every month you can be sure that you will not be able to fully pay off the balance for years. As interest accrues you will pay three or four times the amount of money you originally spent. A thirty dollar pair of jeans could cost as much as one hundred dollars! And that debt will constantly be with you, coming in the form of a hefty bill every month. Many people overspend themselves so quickly with credit cards that they go bankrupt or make it impossible for them to do anything but work all the time. You should not be a slave to your possessions, and you definitely should not be a slave to some credit card company. But how can you spend less on credit cards?
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The first thing to realize is that the only way to spend less on credit cards is to think of them like cash. You will need to set some pretty strict rules for yourself and follow them. You will need to only use a credit card when you know you have the cash to immediately pay back the purchase. One good way to do this is to actually never use the credit card! If you only use cash you will only spend what you have. However, this might not always be realistic. If you are going to make a purchase with the card, ask yourself if it is something you really need. Ask yourself if you can pay it back by the time your next credit card payment is due. If the answer to this question is yes, then it will be OK to proceed. However, don't buy anything else new until you have payed back the previous purchase. Think of your credit card in terms of single payments. When you purchase something the cost of it doesn't just disappear into cyber space-think of it as still being there for you to pay back in the near future. If you pay back the card by the purchase then you won't start to amass some huge pile of debt that you can never overcome.
A finally piece of advice is to consider only using the card for purchases that you can either pay back very quickly, or that you only need in an emergency situation. Many people only keep cards for those times when they would otherwise not be able to use cash or a debit card. This could be a very good policy. If you are disciplined and careful you will be able to spend less on credit cards.
