Credit Card Debt and Living Within Your Means

Credit cards can be a blessing or a curse. It all depends on how you use them. They are great when you have an emergency or an unexpected expense. However, if you buy every new style of shoes that comes out or eat out 4 or 5 times a week you are likely to find yourself with mounting debt on those credit cards.

Credit card debt is on the rise in this country and reaching an all time high. Credit card companies are making very easy to get credit. You can have all your credit cards maxed out, but as long as you make that minimum monthly payment, these companies will be willing to extend you more credit.

But, who is benefiting by you having all this credit? Do the credit card companies have your best interests in mind, by giving you all this credit? The credit card companies have everything to gain, especially your interest payments. As long as you are making your minimum payment, these companies are happy, because they are also making a substantial amount off of you in interest payments.

Having spent time working in the credit card industry, it was very obvious that if you make only minimum payments you are going to be in debt a long time. I have seen people who had minimum payments due of $200 and $195 of that payment went to pay there interest charges.

Credit card companies have designed their payment system to keep you in debt. It is up to you to make the necessary changes to get yourself out of debt. It was said that at the beginning of 2006, minimum credit card payments would increase from 2% to 4% of the balance. I have not really seen where that has happened.

Bottom line is you are going to have to make some decisions if you wish to have a debt free future. You are robbing yourself of your dreams if you spend many years making the credit card companies richer. Credit cards have their place. You just have to figure out where it is.

If you have an excessive amount of credit card debt, now is the time to make a debt management plan that will help you become debt free within a reasonable amount of time (5 years or less). If you do not know where to start, there are many non-profit debt counseling agencies that can help you get started. Credit cards can work for you, but if they are used for the wrong reasons, they can be a burden to you for a long time.

Marjorie Salada is the owner of debtmanagement1.com, a website that contains information on debt consolidation, debt settlement, debt counseling and how to manage credit card debt.