Post by Jaeme, 3 July 09 @ 10:07 pm


According to the statistics of credit card debts in Malaysia, the number of Malaysians declaring bankruptcy due to credit card debts has been increasing. However, as of May 2009, the number of people declaring bankruptcy has reduced.

There are a few causes of credit card debts:

1. Less income, more expenses.


  • Most of the people have lesser income as compared to the expenses they incur. When their income is unable to cover their expenses, they will conduct payments using their credit cards. At this time, they do not think about the ability of paying back the installments of the debts.

2. Saving little or none at all

  • You should save at least 4 months of living expenses in case of a rainy day. For instance, if you lose your job in June, you will have enough money to maintain your current lifestyle up until September. After these 4 months, you may be able to find a new employment. Therefore, having enough savings for a rainy day is always a worthwhile investment.

3. Poor money management.

  • Many families accumulate lots of debts. This is due to them not having a monthly spending plan and keeping their monthly bills properly which makes them unaware of the amount of bills they have to settle. Hundreds of ringgit is charged each month on items which they don’t actually need, at the same time, incurring higher interest.

4. Big medical expenses.

  • Unfortunately, medical expenses are quite high, especially on serious diseases. Almost all the hospitals receive credit card payment. When you need treatment and you do not have enough money, you will usually use your credit card to pay, although you may not be able to repay the expenses.

References:

http://www.3debtconsolidation.com/top10-causes.html


How to prevent your credit card debts?


1. Spending plan.

  • Spending plan can help you to deal in controlling your monthly expenses. For instance, by having the spending plan, you expenses will not exceed your income.

2. Adjust your shopping habits to reduce credit card debt.

  • Some people have a habit of shopping and usually they will spent too much of money that they can’t afford to pay. To reduce credit card debts, consumers need to adjust their shopping habits to may help to reduce your debt.

3. Pay card with higher interest rate first.

  • A higher interest rate will always cost more money in the long run. To prevent this situation from happening, paying off the credit card debt with the highest interest rates may save a lot of money.

4. Debt consolidation.

  • If you consider to switching your debt from one credit card to another, check the fine print before you start transferring the balance. Usually credit card companies try to sweeten the deal by advertising a zero or a very low interest payment on the balance transfers for a certain period. But then, after the time period is up, the amount of debt left is charged a much higher interest rate. This would only benefit credit card customers who can pay the amount of the debt in full at this low rate, otherwise they will run the risk of incurring higher interest rate on the debt.

References:

http://consumereducation.suite101.com/article.cfm/credit_card_debt_solutions#ixzz0K6vny9ST&D

http://consumereducation.suite101.com/article.cfm/credit_card_debt_solutions


http://www.rebuild.org/news-article/top-four-techniques-to-get-credit-card-debt-under-control/

1 comments:

good prevention methods

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