Subscribe to The Money StopNews Feed

Browse > Home / Credit Cards, Featured / Don’t be frivolous with your credit card

Don’t be frivolous with your credit card

February 28, 2011 by Reno  
Filed under Credit Cards, Featured

Leave a Comment

Credit cards are something of a double edged sword to most people. On one hand they are able to help people out of money problems, providing a financial lifeline and helping them when they have severe cash flow problems. On the other hand they are the essence of temptation and can lead people into spiralling levels of debt that can result in financial disaster.

Many industry experts have urged consumers to learn how to use credit cards properly. There are many ways in which you can benefit from credit cards, such as being able to enjoy the convenience and ease of avoiding carrying cash, being able to pay for larger items and then repay the balance gradually, and being able to tide themselves over during difficult times.

However, there are many people that take out a credit card simply because they want to spend unnecessarily rather than for the convenience, ease, and flexibility that these cards offer. Many people that are approved for a credit card will go out of their way to spend on it and often buy things that they do not particularly want or need simply because they are able to do this.

This frivolous spending is partly what has landed the country in huge levels of personal debt, with consumers taking out loans and credit cards to buy all sorts of luxuries, pay for holidays that they cannot really afford, buy the latest gadgets and high tech devices at high prices, and even using their new found ‘wealth’ to treat other people to things. For many having a credit card only involves looking at how much they have to spend rather than how they will repay the money and how much they will have to pay because of interest.

A recent report has shown how many people that apply for credit cards are more concerned about how much money they will get in terms of their credit limit than how much they will be charged in interest. This is because so many people are planning to use their credit cards to spend, spend, spend, rather than use what they need to and then get it cleared quickly and at a low rate of interest. Many people spend on their cards needlessly even when they are paying high rates of interest, which is something that can quickly lead to spiralling debt levels that become impossible to manage.

Tags: sword, low rate, luxuries, consumer, frivolous spending, Credit Cards, Credit card, financial disaster

Tags:

Related Entries

  • Barclays Freedom credit card encourages frivolous spending
    • Barclay's Bank has run into trouble once again, following accusations that it is encouraging consumers to spend more than they can afford, thus adding to the already mounting debt levels in the UK. This is
  • Savers are short-sighted
    • Millions of consumers are only saving money to achieve their short-term goals, new research has indicated.An estimated 7.5 million Britons save cash just to meet their immediate needs, according to a report by website Unbiased.co.uk.A
  • Start saving if you are under forty
    • According to a recent report younger consumers in their twenties and thirties have become so reliant on credit that many are simply spending all of their money on frivolous spending or repaying debt rather than
  • Don’t Get Ripped Off On Your Holiday This Year
    • It is possible that your holiday may cost you more money than you planned on spending this year. With hidden bank charges this could amount to an extra £300. This is especially true if you
  • Credit card rewards not being claimed
    • Millions of credit card holders are failing to take advantage of the rewards that are on offer to us.Research by the Post Office has found that around two-thirds of us are lured by incentives on
  • Brits ‘bombarded’ with credit card cheques
    • British residents were sent 313 million undesired credit card cheques last year, it has emerged.According to recent research, 96 per cent of all credit card cheques issued are unsolicited, with only one in 50 of
  • Cardholders should close old accounts
    • According to a recent report consumers in the UK need to take more care to close their old credit card accounts when they have disused cards that they no longer use. Many consumers who have
  • Further limit reductions on credit cards could be in the pipeline
    • It has been claimed in a recent report that a growing number of credit card customers in the UK could see their credit limits reduced as credit card providers do their best to shore up

Speak Your Mind

Tell us what you're thinking...
and oh, if you want a pic to show with your comment, go get a gravatar!