But I want it now…
It all starts when we’re babies, really. You throw your bottle on the floor…you want it now…mom picks it up, wipes it off (washes it for baby #1) and hands it to you. You’re hooked. Instant gratification is now part of our human makeup.
It’s 35 years later and you’re going through the mail. It’s here…the credit card bill. You know what day it’s due, but it sits on the counter, unopened until the very last minute. When you finally open it, it’s to look at the minimum payment due. Looking at the transactions is just too painful, so you don’t. Write the check, stick it in the mail or go online and pay (you can wait till the last minute that way). Whew…survived another month.
Anyone with a credit card balance knows how increasing interest rates can impact your family’s budget. Minimum payments can prolong your repayment for 30 years or even longer. The cost of an item put on credit can easily double or triple by time you add interest to the cost.
Then the credit card companies step in and pretend to be your friend. They’ll let you transfer balances at 0% interest for six months or more. However, does that really mean that you won’t pay a dime? Better read the fine print, because somewhere in there is something about fees. See, they’ll refer to it as a transfer fee, a percentage of the balance above a certain minimum and up to a certain dollar limit,– that way it doesn’t count as interest. They know odds are you won’t pay it off in the amount of time allotted and now they’ve gotcha! Interest rate goes up and…well you know the rest of the story.
Do these expenses represent items over which you have control? If so, then the first step is in learning how to save for things and how to handle impulse buys.
Did you get blindsided by something you couldn’t have foreseen, without having enough rainy day money set aside? Now you have two jobs: get out of debt and build your savings back up.
Everyone knows the problem…but who knows of a solution?
Regardless of the cause, the next step is to eliminate the debts as quickly as possible, reducing the draining effect of paying massive amounts of interest while building savings. If you are serious about seeing how to do this without debt consolidation, then The Cleveland Police Credit Union is pleased to introduce the most innovative and remarkable cash flow and debt management tool you have ever seen. We will show you how to unlock the secrets of interest cash flow and that smart investors and banks know but never teach. To learn more go to http://cpcumma.eventbrite.com/ and enroll for our online webinar or in person seminar on May 26th 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
Who knows…maybe you’ll start sleeping like a baby again.
Filed under: Cashflow and budgeting Tagged: | debt elimination, savings
I wish they would teach these strategies in school! We have always lived by the idea that nothing ever gets charged to our credit card unless we can pay the entire bill when it comes due at the end of the month. A credit card has always just been a way for us to float money for a month. We have taught this to our kids as well. Unfortunately, there are a lot of adults and kids that have buried themselves in dept that they can never dig themselves out of by charging on credit cards. Maybe you could approach the schools in our area and see if they would be interested in bringing this into the classroom or opening up an evening parent/student seminar.