Credit Cards — Friends or Foes
Credit cards, friends or foes?
Do your credit cards work for you or do you work for your credit card? They can be wonderful helpers or they can be worrysome taskmasters. It mainly depends on how you think of them and how you use them.
You will find your credit cards to be your friends, (wonderful helpers), if used properly. They are convenient to use. They facilitate online purchases. They help you account for your spending. They are available in case of an emergency. The list goes on and on.
Occasionally we can even choose to use them as “credit” when buying something we just want badly enough to pay the extra charges for paying over time, as long as we are honest with ourselves about if we can afford the purchase.
As a general rule:
The trick is to stay below the limits of your credit.
Plan to use your cards as if you are making a cash transaction, (not a credit transaction). Plan to pay the balance in full each month.
Do not use your credit cards to make household purchases unless you have the cash to pay the bill when it comes. Save for these needed expenditures. Using credit cards and paying payments are too expensive in the long run.
Do not use your credit cards to purchase things you can not afford.
The sooner you clear the debt the better it will be for you. You will end up paying exorbitant interest if you just pay the minimal amount.
Being able to know the difference between purchases that are NEEDED and those that are just WANTED really helps. You NEED the essentials, and you WANT everything else.
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