Business | Your Money
10 signs you are headed towards credit card disasters
- Gulf News
- Published: 23:02 August 27, 2010
- You use credit card for basic needs like food and clothing and gas. Having to use credit cards to cover these types of purchases is a sign of financial trouble.
- You have maxed out your credit cards: If your credit cards are all maxed out, you are already in too much debt. What next? Make a decision to pay your credit cards off.
- You have past due accounts. If you have credit cards that are currently past due, you have probably run into financial trouble. Take a look at your monthly budget for money you could use to get your credit accounts back on track.
- You use credit card to "afford" expensive items. The allure of credit is that it tricks us into thinking we can afford to buy more than we really can. Truth is only extra income or lower expenses (or both) enables you to afford more expensive items.
- You don't have a plan to pay off your credit cards debt. You know what they say. "Failing to plan is planning to fail." If you are not actively working to pay off your card dues, you could end up unnecessarily paying on cards for years to come.
- You charge more than you pay. Imagine trying to fill a hole while someone shovelled out more dirt than you put in. Your hole would never get filled. It's the same with debt.
- You don't have an emergency fund. If you don't have such a fund, you will be forced to use your credit card in emergency situations.
- You skip one credit card bill to pay another. Prioritising credit card payments is useful. But skipping payments is unwise.
- You avoid or ignore credit card statements. Pretending your credit card debt doesn't exist only gives it time to grow. Face up to the credit card debt before it is too late.
- You transfer balances to avoid credit card payments. There are times when credit card balance transfer makes sense to consolidate debt or to get a lower interest rate. However frequently transferring balances instead of making payments is a red flag.
(Source: Savera)
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