Why are credit cards not a great way to pay off old debt? Simply because we are doing more of the same, ever hear of that old saying “robbing Peter to pay Paul”? This is exactly what we do when we use credit cards to pay off old debt.
“Robbing Peter to pay Paul”, sounds funny, right? It is not, cc’s were meant to make initial purchases and to pay for that purchase fully at once or in installments before getting on to the next purchase, the big mistake we made as consumers was the fact that our self control levels were affected by this quick fix of easy credit. Credit have become an illness so big that it has placed our own very financial system under stress; can we imagine what it has done to the average American family?
We are not here to discuss the number of Americans in debt; we leave that up to the financial analysts, we are here simply to point out the bad business that it is to pay old debt with cc’s. First is the fact that we are creating a vicious cycle, like a drug, we are hooked on plastic. If we pay for an old debt with a cc we are only extending the life of that debt, increasing interest and fees, no more. We are giving the banks more of our hard earned money; we are simply continuing to drown ourselves in debt. The best possible way to pay off old debt is to consolidate all debt into one single payment or to negotiate a debt settlement on it.
If we consolidate all of our old debt we will have the leisure of reducing interest rates, not making them any higher than they already are. Of course if we consolidate we will pay off the entire debt plus interest, big deal it is better than using a credit card to pay it off and continue to perpetuate our pain. Lets settle our old debt, it makes no sense to pay off for old debt with a credit card when we will only be increasing the life of that very same debt, by this time we have already paid a ton of money in interest, on the principal and possibly other charges; why continue with this suffering?
Let us find quick and effective ways to lower our debt without the need to dive deeper into debt by using our cards, it is time we understand that we ourselves have created a vicious circle that is hard enough o dig out of without the need of abusing our credit privileges. Credit cards are not to be used to pay for old debt if this is what we are looking at we are simply better of cutting them into pieces ad avoiding more pain and suffering in the long run.
