Credit Card Debt and Living Within Your Means

Credit cards can be a blessing or a curse. It all depends on how you use them. They are great when you have an emergency or an unexpected expense. However, if you buy every new style of shoes that comes out or eat out 4 or 5 times a week, you are likely to find yourself with mounting balances on those credit cards.

Credit card debt is on the rise in this country and reaching an all time high. Credit card companies are making it very easy to get credit. You can have all your credit cards maxed out, but as long as you make that minimum monthly payment on time, these companies will be willing to extend you more credit.

But who is benefiting by you having all this credit? Do the credit card companies have your best interests in mind by giving you all this credit? The credit card companies have everything to gain, especially your interest payments. As long as you are making your minimum payment, these credit card companies are happy. They are making a substantial amount off of their cardholders in interest payments.

Having spent time working in the credit card industry, it is very obvious that if you make only minimum payments you are going to be in debt a long time. I have seen people who had minimum payments due of $200 and $195 of that payment went to pay their interest charges.

Credit card companies have designed their payment system to keep you in debt. It is up to you to make the necessary changes to get yourself out of debt. It was said that at the beginning of 2006, minimum credit card payments would increase from 2% to 4% of the balance. In most cases, I have not really seen where that has happened.

Bottom line is you are going to have to make some decisions if you wish to have a debt free future. You are robbing yourself of your dreams, if you spend many years making the credit card companies richer. Credit cards have their place. You just have to figure out where it is.