Avoid Paying Bills With Credit Cards
In the UK around 13 million people are struggling to pay off their credit card balances every month. Prior to the credit crunch lenders were falling over themselves competing for your business. Credit was easy, fast, and in abundance. Those days seem like a distant memory. Perhaps that’s a good thing.
Personal debt is a big problem and with UK consumers owing billions of pounds in credit card debt alone, people are suddenly left in a precarious position of high debts mixed with rising unemployment and costs of living. Inflation at the time of this writing is double what the government anticipated. Mix all of these economic factors and you have a cocktail for disaster waiting to happen. As a result, many are forced to rely on credit cards to pay the bills each month. It’s an ironic yet serious situation if not controlled straight away.
Experts are predicting the economy to only get worse for the rest of the year and most likely through 2009. Interbank lending continues to raise rates as fears of lending to one another permeate the global finance sectors. How does this impact Joe public? As rates and inflation continue to rise, the cost of living compounded by higher mortgage rates, all add to difficult times ahead for most families. Using your credit cards may be a quick solution one month but you not only have to pay that back but the high interest tacked onto the bill each month.
One of the first things you can do is eliminate the smaller luxuries in life, for now at least. For example, you may want to cancel that dvd membership, or buy generic store brand food items instead of name brands. Do you really need cable tv in every room in the house? Go jogging instead of paying high monthly gym payments. These are some of the easiest and quickest steps you can take to help your budget straight away.
Write down your outgoings and incomings and make sure that you are living within your means, not beyond. If your outgoings exceed your incomings, don’t turn to your Visa card, consider getting a second job or selling some valuables to get you through this tough time.
For better peace of mind and a brighter financial future, don’t fight the credit crunch but rather roll with it punch for punch and when the economy does improve, be sure to keep on track of your finances for the rest of your life.