Credit Cards – An Observation
I should say first of all that I’m as guilty as anyone and have quite successfully landed myself in many a fix.
I was in a large Department Store the other day and joined the long queue of people waiting to pay for their goods at the Till.
It was then I noticed by looking at the till I was at and the neighbouring ones that approximately 8 out of 10 people were buying on their credit cards.
The thought then went through my mind as to how much we would have if we didn’t have them and also – how did we get on before credit cards!
It was simply a case years ago that ‘if you didn’t have the money, you didn’t buy it’. It was straightforward and at least you knew your budget and there was hardly any other way, except the old HP or ‘never never’ to buy it.
So, the Retailers make good use of this fact and there’s a ‘latest model’ of TV, PC, Digital Camera, Ipod etc., almost weekly. That’s besides shoes and other clothes which change fashion after you’ve worn the new one twice.
It would seem to me that those with no money are often the one’s who are better off. In that I mean perception of a person. You see the flash car, big house and all the gadgets, but it’s probably all brought on Credit Cards, second / third mortgages or other. .
Those without the Cards and the means to get credit are the ones who buy things with what they have and probably have a fraction of the debt which others have
As I say, I’ve got the ‘T-Shirt’, but I’ve stopped all the credit cards and burnt them. But I shall still have the consequences to suffer and the scars to show for some time to come yet!
The big question is who is to blame of course. Ultimately the buck stops at the Consumer, but these companies see you’re nearly on the limit and even if you aren’t zeroing out the payments at the end of each month, they’ll up the credit just to keep you spending and owing them more interest. When the day of doom comes and you can’t pay them – it’s a different story!