What are the lies that got you into credit card debt?

Jennifer McClelland | RSS | Thu, Oct 08 2009 | 0 Comments

Here are some pretty common things that people tell themselves right before they find themselves in credit card debt:

1. It’s an emergency.
2. We deserve it.
3. It’s a bargain.
4. It’s not that much money.
5. The payment is small.
6. The card rewards make it worth it.
7. There’s an offer of zero percent APR on purchases.
8. Balance transfers are zero percent APR also.
9. Its for my business.
10. I’ll pay it off after graduation.

Here’s some truths to these lies that people tell themselves:

1. First of all, many times credit is not used in emergency situations. Sometimes we convince ourselves that credit cards will only be used in emergency situations and some people are able to stick to that rule, but not most.
2. No one deserves anything that they haven’t earned and later in life, they will be happy when they can afford something nice with the money that they’ve made working instead of paying interest on a splurge when they were younger.
3. A credit card is never a bargain. You will always pay interest. If you have an interest free card, it won’t remain that way forever and you HAVE to pay it off in order to keep from having to pay the interest. Did you know that even when you go to the furniture store and they say “no interest for 24 months!” or something like that, if you don’t have the furniture paid off by the end of those 24 months, you will have to pay interest on the entire purchase price,  not just what you owe.
4. It’s not that much money on the purchase maybe, but over time, the interest adds up and it becomes a lot of money.
5. The payment is small because it is meant to ensure that the credit card companies get the most amount of money they can from you. The smaller payment you make, the more interest the company will earn from your money.
6. The rewards are never worth it. Haha.
7. See number 3.
8. See number 3.
9. Businesses sometimes need loans to start up. However, if you’re going to take out money for your business, perhaps you should consider small business loans first. The interest rates are much smaller. However, if you can avoid it, why would you want to start your company in debt.
10. Haha. College procrastination at it’s greatest. I paid my credit cards off before graduation because I knew I had a crazy high student loan bill. Not everyone will have such an outrageous loan payment, but if you do those credit cards will likely be put on the backburner for awhile.

Lies, Lies, Lies….

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Tags: furniture store, bargain, credit cards