|
SAMPLE CHAPTER
from Greg's Smith latest best selling e-book
"How to pay off your credit cards ten times faster"
Chapter 1
It's Time To STOP Your Love Affair With Credit Cards!
You know exactly what I’m talking about.
That urge you get whenever you’re out shopping for groceries or running simple errands. You see something that you absolutely must have at this very instant, or else you’ll miss out on the purchase of a lifetime. Maybe it’s a pair of the season’s hottest shoes, or the latest mobile phone that you just know will impress all of your friends.
Eyeing your wallet, you realize that you don’t have enough cash on hand or cash in your bank account. You start to resign yourself to the fact that you might have to skip this purchase – but then you see it. That little glint of plastic that’s calling out your name.
Your credit card.
If this situation sounds all too familiar, then you’re not alone. Global consumers have relied on credit cards for decades to fund purchases that would not have otherwise been in their means. Why not? After all, during the worldwide economic boom of the 90s, living within our salaries seemed like a joke. Why would we want to restrict our spending when so many banks and credit card lenders were willing to make credit available so easily? It seemed as though no purchase was out of our grasp, all thanks to that powerful piece of plastic.
This is exactly the kind of thinking that credit card companies and retailers have exploited over the past two decades – and it comes as no surprise that they’ve had major success! Lenders and retailers know how to stroke our egos; from “got-to-have-it” sales to trendy cards with “luxurious” rewards. Lenders and retailers know how to push our greed buttons – and we’re just putty in their hands.
When it comes to consumption, our society of late has seemingly been operating on the three deadly sins: greed, gluttony and envy. We’ve become used to purchasing items that we don’t need simply because we “want” them at the time. We’ve given in completely to impulse, and we’ve completely lost control of our inner money personalities. We’ve become like spoiled children who want what we want, at the exact moment we want it – and nothing, not even a lack of money, is going to get in our way! This kind of spending is only spurred on by the envy that we experience when we see celebrities or other public figures with clothes, cars and other items that we want. Heck, we even want to make sure that we have better things than our neighbours! It’s the old “keeping up with the Joneses” social phenomenon - a type of consumption that’s been especially prevalent in Western society for many years.
So where does this greedy behaviour come from? Simple: your out-of-control spending comes from your inner money personality. You see, we’re all capable of becoming responsible and frugal spenders – but if you have an inner money personality that’s prone to impulse spending (perhaps you weren’t taught financial responsibility as a child), it takes far more discipline to reign in your spending. But it’s not impossible. YOU are responsible for your spending, not the credit card companies and the retailers. At the end of the day, only YOU are responsible for the massive credit card debt that you’ve accumulated. Despite what you may think your credit limit it IS NOT YOUR MONEY. It is someone else’s that needs to be paid back if you do access it.
It’s time to take control
If you want to learn how to get rid of your credit card debt, you need to take control of your finances, learn how to reign in your greedy impulses and end the cycle of out-of-control spending!
Here are the best ways to finally gain control of your own finances:
a. Say no to limit increases. Credit card companies WANT you to stay in debt, because they make more money from you this way. If they increase your spending limit, and you spend more you’ll be in even more debt – and they’ll be laughing their way to the bank! Instead, tell your lenders that under no circumstances will you accept a limit increase.
b. Say no to new credit cards. Contrary to popular belief, it’s not just people with good credit who get credit card offers. If you have a habit of getting yourself into credit card debt, lenders will jump at the chance to offer you a piece of plastic. These offers are your worst enemies, so throw any card offers straight into the trash!
c. Keep it in your pocket! Do you truly need those shoes? Are you going to die if you don’t get your hands on the latest computer game? If you want to cut your credit card debt significantly, it’s time to start acting like an adult with your money, not like a child with the case of the ‘gimme gimmes’. Keep your credit card in your wallet for emergencies or considered purchases only. Buy only what you truly need when you can afford it. It’s not rocket science – it’s really just as simple as that.
d. If you don’t want to use your credit card, grab a pair of scissors and cut it up – you can’t use it if it’s not there! In fact, many Australians would be a lot better off if they got rid of their credit cards; yet more people are taking out credit card accounts than ever before. In fact, since 2005, credit card accounts have increased by 13%! (Source: Reserve Bank Of Australia)
Greed is so 2008!
Thanks to the sheer global scale of the credit crunch, which has been spurred on by our inability to pay for our greed, less credit is available to the average consumer and debt has skyrocketed in the average household. In fact, according to statistics provided by the Reserve Bank of Australia in November 2008 the entire nation had a credit balance of $45 billion, with an accruing interest bill of over $27 billion. This is a staggering amount of debt that clearly shows our dependence on credit cards as part of our daily financial spending; in fact, in just November alone, Australians used their credit cards to spend over $16 billion.
It’s not hard to see why we’ve come to love credit cards so much – and lenders don’t exactly help us to break the cycle of dependency either! In fact, thanks to credit increases, special rewards cards and other incentives designed to get us to flex more credit, it may seem as though only the most disciplined user can withstand these temptations.
Even worse, we’re clearly not able to spend within our limits. Statistics available from the Reserve Bank of Australia show that the average credit card account has a balance of $3,104 (that’s the average credit card account! People, it’s time to start taking control of your spending!)
So how did we come to love our credit so much?
We can equally point the finger of blame at our credit lenders and ourselves. Our economy is bolstered by the prevalent ‘gimme’ culture that was fostered by the previous decade’s rapid economic growth. We’ve come to expect that we can have whatever we want at the exact moment we want it, thanks to the availability of credit. No purchase was too expensive, no item too pricey; in fact, it seemed like we were only limited by our sky-high credit limits!
In the last fifteen years, credit card lenders and their marketers have become increasingly adept at what they do. They know that there’s a consumer ego to feed, and they’ve specifically designed their cards to feed those egos. Want to feel like an A-lister when you’re out shopping? Simple – pick up a Platinum Card, which marketers claim is only used by their most elite clients. Want to establish yourself as a frequent and valued customer of a particular company? No problem – just pick up an application form, and you’re well on your way towards becoming a distinctive card member. In fact, thanks to the psychological development of the ego-driven consumer, many credit card companies now have programs in which you have to be invited to apply.
Talk about an ego stroke!
If you’re ready to hack away at your credit card debt once and for all, it’s time to say no to credit increases. Let’s take a stand against the new credit card offers that we receive in the mail almost every day. Let’s tell ourselves that we really don’t need those overpriced shoes or the latest mobiles, or computer games that will just put us further and further into debt.
Let’s end our cycle of dependency on credit cards once and for all – and start living credit card debt-free for good!
WANT TO KNOW MORE?
Then get the book - How to pay off your credit cards 10 times faster!
Click here NOW - For ony $9.95 you could save thousands and be credit card debt FREE in record time.
|
