The truth is that the best credit card deals are of the ‘no credit card’ type.
As we all know, credit cards allow the consumer to make purchases up to a pre-set credit limit. Most credit card companies provide an interest free period as long as the account is paid in full before the set date, using 30 days from the date of purchase.
"Some debts are fun when you are acquiring them,
but none are fun when you set about retiring them."
- Ogden Nash, American Writer |
If you fail to pay by the interest free date, credit card interest rates can quickly go through the roof and a penalty is added for late payment. Sometimes, the charges associated with a balance of $3,500, if you make only the minimum monthly payment, can have you paying over $10,000 before the debt is cleared.
Although our elected officials are continuously campaigning on how they will change credit card laws to help protect the consumer, powerful lobbys consistently get in the way of any real change.
Debit cards, however, is a solution you can implement yourself. Using debit cards, rather than risky credit cards, gives you the convenience of a credit card with the added advantage that you are only spending money you have on deposit and not the lender’s money. This prevents you from incurring debt.
Using a debit card as your plastic of choice is definitely the way to go! None of the so called best credit card deals can beat out the safety and security of using a debit card. Imagine never again having to stress over the various credit card payment terms.
A debit card physically resembles a credit card and is used as an alternative to cash. Debt cards are accepted virtually everywhere that credit cards are accepted. They even have the same Visa or Mastercard logos on the card.
When you purchase something with a debit card, the funds come directly out of your checking account. You can use your debit card for everything that you use credit cards for, shopping, paying bills, making resvervations or getting cash at your local ATM.
Credit cards are nothing more than an invitation to accumulate more debt. Convincing you to borrow on credit in order to pay the lender interest each and every month is what the credit card companies want to accomplish.
A debit card enables the user to pay right away, using only the money in your personal checking account. In this scenario, debt does not become the major factor in the transaction. Rather, convenience is the true benefit. With a debit card, wondering how you'll be able to most efffectively consolidate credit card debt from multiple cards will become a thing of the past.
It’s a sad fact that America has become an obsessively ‘consumption oriented’ nation, where instant affluence is overshadowed by bill collectors, foreclosures and bankruptcies.
In 2009, the American consumer debt stands at above $12 trillion (and rapidly increasing), of which, more than $18,000 per household is consumer credit card debt. What’s worse is that the interest has to be paid on that same amount, which reduces the consumer’s ability to invest and make new purchases.
How much credit card debt do you currently have? Use our free credit card calculators to add up your balances and make a plan for paying off your credit card debt.
Sixty percent of American families spend more than their after-tax income and consumers spend $50 billion more than they earn. People are in effect exhausting their savings, selling off investments and carrying huge debts.
It would take very little to push the average American consumer over the edge, financially speaking. In most cases, two or three months out of work would force them into bankruptcy.
Consumers are finding themselves more in debt today than ever before in our history, with no obvious way to correct their situation.
No one should count on the financial institutions to either forgive debt or to allow more time for consumers to repay their debt - that's simply not going to happen – and why should it?
It remains the responsibility of the individual consumer to take complete ownership of his or her debt. Only once you do that will you finally begin to realize that there are no best credit card deals to be had. All of them are a terrible deal!
So forget the idea of using credit cards altogether - there are no best credit card deals - get a debit card instead.
"Money and success don't change people;
they merely amplify what is already there."
- Will Smith, Actor |
|
Debt is NOT your friend. It's not a wonderful "tool" for building wealth. That's a myth.
