While there’s a lot to be said for staying debt free and never borrowing a penny, that is very often not the reality for many of us. Whether we take on a hefty mortgage or just rely on a credit card to get us through each month debt, managed or not, is often a part of our lives.
But it’s this unmanaged debt that’s the real issue and is something of a modern scourge. Our debts mount up, we borrow more to pay them back and very soon we’ve snowballed into a situation where we have debts stacked upon debts, stacked upon debts.
In this article we take a look at one of the leading sources of this issue: credit cards.
How it Starts
You’re a professional, you have a steady income and you have a bank account. It’s at this point your bank offers you a credit card with them. This feels ok because it’s your bank, not some internet offer and you go with them. The arguments for buying more and more begin fairly early on with advertising that convinces you buying large purchases will lead to cashback, special offers and so forth.
Fairly soon you’ve bitten off more than you can chew, maxed out your card and are in the process of paying off the interest each month and very little in the way of capital.
Then the next offer comes along and you promise yourself you’ll be more careful and besides your washing machine needs replacing, so…
It’s easy to see how it happens but not so easy to deal with once you have two, three or more cards each at their limit.
How it Stops
It stops with you paying off a series of debts each month but never really getting anywhere. It might sound counterintuitive but if you’re getting nowhere simply paying off high interest on your cards, it might be time to roll all your debt onto a much lower, or interest free card and start paying back much more on one card each month, taking you past the interest only stakes.
The debt that was going nowhere will start to gradually decrease and you will begin to see some light at the end of the tunnel. Just cut up the card to avoid adding more debt.
If you prefer to take out a loan to do the same kind of thing and avoid spending temptation, make sure you do so with a responsible lender and never borrow any more than you can realistically afford to pay back each month.
Getting out of credit card debt is the first step towards a happier and more financially stable life. Lose those payments that keep you tied down to high interest and manage your debt so that you finally get free from credit cards for good.
Give your finances time to recover and it will help your credit score as well as relieve you from the stresses and strains that being in debt can bring.
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