figured out how I got into trouble
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figured out how I got into trouble
| Sat, 03-04-2006 - 12:37pm |
Well, I finally figured out what went wrong to get us into the ugly credit card debt we are in. Actually I think it was the availablity of the low rate balance transfer offer. I had been trying to figure out the giant expenses that got us into trouble. But really it wasn't really huge necessary things or repairs we just couldn't put off. We had one card that we called the "day to day" credit card. When the balance got too high to be paid off each month, I would transfer it to a low rate card. AND THEN CHARGE IT UP AGIAN THE NEXT MONTH. I think this is kinda the same thing folks might be tempted to do when they use a HELOC to pay off the credit cards, and then charge them up again. So be aware that there can be danger here too. My husband was actually against the transfers to the low rate cards because he said the high interest would force us to pay the credit cards off. But I transferred them anyway. I'm not sorry now, really, that I did, because the horrible debt is all at a pretty low rate. BUT we kept on using the day to day card and did not get into the habit to force ourselves to pay it all off before we used it again. Anyway, just thought I'd share the final insight I had with this. So while the low rates are a life saver, I should have not buried my head in the sand, and gotten some plan to keep our 'day to day" bills down and not rely on credit cards. This group has really helped me change my way of thinking. If we do use the "day to day" card, we pay it off each month. No more avoiding the truth. But we still have a very very long way to go before those wonderful low rate cards are paid off.
Megan
Megan

Megan