Sunday, July 5, 2009

Escape the Curse of Credit Card

In my last post I showed you how deadly the credit card can be. Once you get into the credit cycle, you end up paying much more than you bargained for.

Does that mean you should throw away your credit card?
The answer to that is very simple: No you should not. Rather you need to use it with wisdom.

Here are two ways to escape the curse of the credit card.

1) Keep a track of what your expenditure. I always assume that the money paid by credit card belongs to this month's expenditure. It is easy to keep a track now-a-days. Banks let you see your credit card statements whenever you wish to - not just at the end of a billing cycle. At least, my bank, Standard Chartered, has that facility. Regular checks on your credit card will also help you look out for any credit card frauds.

2) Do not use the credit facility of the Credit Card. Pay your entire amount every month. One way to force this on yourself is to give a standing instruction to your bank to pay off 100% of the amount.

Of course, you could also use the Ice Glass Method

2 comments:

  1. Came across your blog through Indiblogger. Interesting info abt the CC. It is true, instead of just not having a credit card, we should practice more control on ourselves. The Ice Glass method seems like perfect first step!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi Amitabh, I came across your blog recently in Indiblogger, and totally agree with your investment philosophy in general (kind of vibes with mine). I have recently started my blog at
    http://buildwealthinindia.blogspot.com and plan to cover a range of topics, concepts and philosophy and in practical terms (not necessarily predicting the next hot stock or Mutual Funds ). Please do visit mine and let me know your comments. If you like it, please let your friends and visitors know. Thanks Vijay

    ReplyDelete