Truth About Credit Card Debt

Credit card debt is hurting so many people. It is the main reason why so many Americans won't be able to retire when they want. More and more people are starting to use a credit card for everyday purchases such as; gas, groceries and dining out at fast food restaurants.

Currently we owe over $957 Billion in credit card debt. All of that debt in earning interest for all the banks and credit card companies. The banks are the one's who actually own most of the major credit card companies we use everyday.

One tip I use to not use my credit card is to pay cash for everything. When I go to the grocery store I use cash. I even attempt not to use my debit card which is tied to my checking account. It is too easy to spend more money than I intend to when using any kind of credit card.

How many times has your spouse used the debit card tied to your bank account and did not tell you? This can create many household arguments which can easily be avoided by paying cash. I had a client use a credit card for buying gas when it was $4 a gallon (thankfully now $2). They did this out of convenience. Besides did you really like forking out $100 to fill up your gas tank?

Well after about 6 months of both spouses using a credit card for gas they had close to a $5,000 balance. Now at first they did have the intention to pay off the balance each month. They earned over $140,000 a year so money was not an issue. It did become an issue when all of a sudden they owed over $5,000 on credit card debt.

At that point they stopped charging gas and started paying cash. On the credit card debt they started to pay $500 a month to eliminate the bill as soon as possible.

It is very easy to build up credit card debt when you start using it for everyday purchases. If need be start carrying around only one credit card with say a $500 limit. A low limit charge card should cover any routine expenses if you happen not to have enough cash.

You are not going to beat the credit cards at the Money Game. You can use some techniques to your advantage.

Visit http://debtstrength.com and take a look at my book "How to Beat Banks & Credit Card at The Money Game"