So you have all that amazing stuff on the counter for your new bedroom and you’re ready to pay cash for it when the lady at the checkout counter says, “if you sign up today for our credit card, we’ll give you 20 percent off the cost of your purchase!”
You think to yourself what a great deal that is, getting a 5th of the price returned to you, never stopping at that moment to realize that you’re falling into one of the oldest traps for getting into debt that is out there.
The interest alone that you pay for that credit card purchase will be more than the twenty percent that you saved, but it all sounds good. Off you go to sign up for a credit card that you really didn’t want and probably don’t need in order to save less than you will be charged for the interest rates.
This is a common tool of retailers to get you initiated into spending more than you have or can afford to spend. You just fell prey to one of the top ways that the retailers talk you into something you really didn’t want, and to spending more than you wanted to spend.
Credit card debt is easy to get into and not always so easily accomplished to get out of. Using a credit card is an easy way to defer the payments on things you really can’t afford but want.
Getting credit cards is so easily accomplished that by the time most kids are in their second year of college they’ve been offered anything from a thousand to ten thousand dollars worth of credit.
The retailers are banking in their ability to make a good living from school and will avidly send out credit card offers to children; and we do mean children, who are 18 or 19 years old, and may not have the reasoning to say no when they see something they want within easy reach by means of a credit card.
Credit card companies actually line the walls with a credit card application booth when you enter the school for your registration, taking advantage of the youth and lack of experience that college kids may have. Getting your kids prepped to say no to this trap is a big step toward their overall education.
The overall point of the text is that you can say no. The next time someone offers you an easy way to pay for something and get a great price AND a discount, think about what the discount is really going to net you in the long run.
Being in debt puts the credit card company, not you, in control of your life and your financial future. Don’t fall prey to an easy pay situation. Really consider the card and if you want it, go back later and get it.
The spur of the moment credit card offers should always net a firm no from you.
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Tags: Avoid Getting in Debt, Avoiding Credit Card Debt, Credit Card Traps, Debt Traps, Debt Triggers, Getting out of Debt, Lower your Credit Card Debt