Gods Money Matters – Articles
How Can I Manage My Credit Card? Every Month I Seem to Spend More!
It used to happen to me more than I’d like to admit. Swiping the plastic is easy – and it’s really easy to forget how much is being racked up.
Some people have called our current electronic way of dealing with money as the hidden economy.
Credit cards encourage us to spend more
A recent Dunn & Brad Street study showed that people who spend using credit cards are spending 12 to 18% more that those people who use cash. That’s 12 to 18% more spending. So even if the card is paid off every month, we’re still 12 to 18% behind!
No wonder budgets are being blown.
Supermarkets are a major contributor
Research shows that one of the major areas where this overspending occurs is in the supermarket. Can you relate to this?
- My wife and I decided some time ago to only use cash in the supermarket. My wife withdraws our grocery budget allocation from our account every pay… in cash. This cash is then put into a different section of the purse and is quarantined for groceries.
- This puts appropriate boundaries around our spending in the supermarket – because when the cash is gone, it’s gone. If the cash runs dry before the next pay, then we just have to get creative with what’s in the pantry.
- This has significantly helped us with limiting the spontaneous spending, and helps us focus on shopping smarter.
So shopping with cash is one way to help manage those credit card bills.
Get rid of the credit card
Another way is to get rid of the credit card all together.
- Whilst credit cards may seem convenient, from my experience they are a very dangerous temptation.
- I’ve challenged many of my clients to cut the cards up and use cash and debit cards. Of all those that have done the plastic surgery and cut them up, I’ve never had one come back to me regretting it. Many find it very liberating.
So if you have having trouble making ends meet in your household budget, then give the credit card the flick, bring cash back into the family and see what happens!