Do you ever feel like you just can’t stop spending? Whether you primarily shop in person or online, do you make purchases that you know you can’t afford? The reason could be the fact that you’re using a credit card.
Experts warn that credit cards can be addictive and that many people struggle with using them too often or having too many. This addiction can lead to massive debt that may feel impossible to overcome.
One part of the problem is that it’s easy to put off the “problem” for the future. Say you want to buy a new guitar. It costs $700. You only have $400 in your wallet. If you didn’t have a card, you simply could not buy it. With the card, though, you just charge it and decide you will figure out the issue of the other $300 later. You get what you want and the rush of satisfaction — without any downside at the moment — and you pass the problem on down the line.
Another issue, especially if you have multiple cards, is that it’s very easy to spend more than you have any chance of affording. If you make $5,000 per month and have two cards with a $10,000 limit on each, you can make an impulse buy that puts you far past what you can pay off at the end of the month. That means you’re going to start paying interest, pushing you further into debt and making it even harder to get out. It’s all a spiral, and it can lead to insurmountable debt.
If this happens to you, you need to know what options you have.