Credit Card
Crunch Survival:
What To Do After You Cut Up The Cards
The most common way
to reduce credit card spending is to cut them up. This does eliminate the urge
to pull them out on impulse, but it doesn't completely solve the problem in our
advanced society. The current credit card crunch
is inspiring many people to cut up their credit cards and toss them in the trash
can. People have been taking out the scissors in an effort to reduce their total
debt for centuries but in our technologically advanced society you need more than
scissors to erase the ease of using a credit card on impulse. It
is true that not having the card in your wallet will make it impossible to buy
that blouse at Sears or take your coworkers out for drinks before payday, but
it does nothing to stop you from buying that book you want from Amazon or ordering
the blouse from Sears.com. In today's world a lot of shopping is done right at
home over the internet, so you must think beyond the physical credit card if you
are serious about escaping the credit card crunch with less debt. The
first thing to do after you cut up your cards is to go to every online shopping
site that you have ever made a purchase from and erase your credit card information.
Most sites will give you the option to store your information for the ease of
future shopping occasions, but you no longer want to utilize that option. All
you have to do is find a link from the main page of each site that says "my
account" or something similar. Sign in and erase any credit card information
stored at each site. If you no longer remember your sign in information there
will be a smaller link to click and have it emailed to you, usually after answering
a couple security questions you set up when joining the site. If
you have made purchases from websites without signing up for an online account
then your credit card information should not be permanently stored for future
use and you don't have to do anything about those sites. The goal is simply to
eliminate the option of giving into temptation and using a credit card you have
already cut up. The last thing you want to do during a
credit card crunch is close any of your current lines of credit. Leaving them
open will boost your credit rating as you pay them off, giving you a much greater
chance of securing future credit should you need a loan for emergency expenses
or decide to make a large purchase, like a home. Leave the credit card accounts
open and cut up the plastic as well as the virtual cards. If
you have an account with PayPal or similar online service, you should delete the
credit cards from that account as well. This one may be harder to do if you regularly
shop online or if you sell on auction sites such as EBay, but it needs to be done
or you will continue to use those cards even after they have been snipped in half.
There is no point in cutting back spending in stores if you continue to overspend
on the internet. Beating the credit card crunch is possible,
and when financial matters start to look up you could very well be in an even
better position than you are right now. If you are looking to buy a home or will
need a new car in the future, it is absolutely essential that you take action
to improve your credit rating right away.
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