Sometimes I think it would be nice to go back to being a child again, with no bills to pay and food on the table. As a child, I don't think I ever understood just how expensive life could be. Nowadays, with all the modern gadgets and 'must have' brands, life is a heck of a lot more expensive. Our parents still provide for us, but one day it happens - we have to start paying for things ourselves. What a wake up call! It can be very disheartening to suddenly have a pile of bills to pay and no idea how you're going to eat this week. If you're at college, how will you pay for your room, tuition and meals? Can you afford to buy books?
The sad part is that for many college students and young home leavers, those credit card pitches keep showing up, and the temptation to say yes gets stronger as the bills also keep showing up. We make the mistake of thinking that it's only temporary, we just need a little bit of time to get through this rough patch, then we'll pay off the card and throw it away. And so we send in the application form, and after a little bit of time passes we send in another one, then another, until we're so deep in credit card debt there's just no way out. Credit cards can be a wonderful blessing if you use them wisely, but sadly too few of us do that.
Nowadays it's very common for people to have two or three credit cards. The tricky part is doing that without ending up in major debt. Having a huge credit card debt can make it very hard for you to meet the repayments, and even harder to get other types of loans such as a home loan. It's easy to believe that we'll be sensible, and only use our credit card when we need to and pay it off straight away. Before you know it, you're paying hundreds of dollars a month to credit card companies, but only reducing the debt by a much smaller amount. That's because the interest rates on credit cards are very high, and if you're only just making the minimum payment each month you will be paying them off for years.
Remember, though, that you're not the only one who's fallen into the credit card debt trap. The number of Americans struggling to make their credit card payments is sadly very high. If you're finding it tough, look into the option of debt consolidation. Even better, don't get into debt in the first place, but it may already be too late for that option. Still, if you're young and still at college, remember that it might seem like fun to spend up on your credit cards for some meaningless fun, but you will pay dearly for it after graduation. Stay within budget and don't purchase things on credit that you know you won't be able to pay off straight away. Also, spend some time online, as there are plenty of great sites that can give you ideas about how to clear your credit card debt as fast as possible.
If you want to read more about managing your credit card debt, click over to David's site at http://www.find-the-best-credit-card.info |
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