Credit Card Debt - Who's to Blame?
With the amount of lenders, seemingly tripping over themselves to offer you a new Visa,
MasterCard credit card or
American Express credit card, and the seemingly easy and swiftavailability of debt consolidation loans, can we really say that the borrowers are at fault for their increasing credit card debt?
Surely we are in the hands of the "pushers" who aretempting us with faster, easier, cheaper and more beneficial consumercredit products? If you offer a dog a choice steak, what will the dogdo? In a similar fashion, many lenders are now dressing their creditproducts so attractively it can be impossible to turn aside from them.Whilst this would not be a problem in itself, the situation becomesdangerous when multiple lends and credit card operators target the sameindividual, literally flooding them with fresh credit. The resultingdebt accrued by the individual quickly becomes a problem, leading to the next step along the path, and on the
debt consolidation loan. Once could argue that this is theultimate goal of the credit card companies, drown you in credit untilyou cannot borrow any more, and then give you a way to pay it back overan extended period, locked into a loan. Maximum profit, a vertically integrated market.
On the other hand, the public must also take some blame uponthemselves, if an individual fails to maintain a sensible level ofdebt, or worse still, is unable to judge the effects of increased debtupon their lifestyle, then they are likely to become one of the debtridden masses. It is down to each and every one of us to keep controlof our credit card spending, and not overstretching our monthly budgetby encountering excessive monthly repayments. Remember, debtconsolidation is a last resort, not a logical conclusion, anyone seeingthis form of resolution as a safety net needs to sit back and take a long hard look at their credit habits.
In a similar fashion, balance transfers are a short termsolution for lowering interest costs, not as a way to free your creditcard balance up so that you can start spending again.
For additional information on credit cards or related topics please visit our library of credit card articles.
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