How to Avoid Overspending on Your Credit Card

Guest Post By Andrew Black

Your credit card debt could be piling up by now if you are into overspending. It is becoming a common problem these days as the number of so-called shopaholic people increases. Moreover, modern society has obviously made it very easy to spend much more than you should. It is about time you start aiming to clear your rising credit card debts.

If you want to obtain peace of mind, you should aim to curtail, control, and eliminate overspending. In reality, it could be harder than you think. Most of the time, consumers fail to resist the urge to spend according to their means. Overspending is a problem that leads to more financial problems. Thus, it would be best if you would observe the following tips on how to avoid it.

Prevent impulsive spending

Spending on impulse could be a habit. It is one of the main reasons cited for consumers’ overspending activities. To prevent it, try to reflect prior to buying any item. If you like to buy anything you see in a retail shop, try not to make a purchase right away. Instead, wait for a day before you actually decide to buy it. Doing so would enable you to rethink the proposition to buy and possibly find other items that could be comparatively better.

Do not go to places where there are numerous temptations to buy. Overspending is common to consumers who frequent shopping centres and retail shops. If you go to such places to overcome boredom, try to find other venues to do so. Likewise, try not to spend your lunch break strolling around retail shops. How about hanging out in a garden or a park where there could be less temptation to spend anything?

Live within a strict budget

If overspending is your problem, set a specific budget per week. Intend not to spend beyond this allocation no matter what happens. Furthermore, make sure your weekly budget is in cash, which is much easier to monitor. Keep your credit cards in a secured place and do not bring it whenever you go out so as not to face the urge to spend unnecessarily.

It would also help if you would know how much you spend. Be conscious when you buy small or relatively cheap items. For instance, do not buy coffee as frequently as you do. Review your bank accounts, payables, and credit card bills so you would determine how much you spend within a particular period. Also try to look at different types of items you purchase.

Set objectives when shopping

You could effectively avoid overspending if you would set clear objectives prior to shopping. Buy items because you really need them, not because you want them. Before deciding to purchase anything, think more than twice whether you would go on and complete the purchase. Do not try to look closer at things that do not fall within your shopping objectives.

Lastly, you could curtail overspending by avoiding spending by habit. Review your own habitual spending pattern. This way, you could determine whether you tend to buy things based on necessity or simply based on your habit. Try to find other recreational activities that would take most of your idle time from habitual spending.

Andrew has been working in the finance industry helping people to consolidate credit card debts. Andrew now likes to share advice on how to avoid debt.

Did Enrolling in a Credit Card Debt Repayment Program Hurt Our Credit Rating?

Our first attempt to get a loan after enrolling in the program.

The month is April 98 we have been on the credit card debt management plan now since November. I am scheduled to retire from the Navy at the end of June 98 and we still don't know where we're going.

I have sent off many resumes to the Western North Carolina area hoping to get a job in the area. Neither of us are from the area but the area is beautiful and very similar in atmosphere to Maine.

In preparation for the move from Maine to North Carolina we had to tie up some loose ends that were going to cause us grief. First on the list was a mini motorhome built on a 1 ton Toyota pick-up truck chassis. In 94 when we moved from Florida to Maine parts of the motorhome had rotted and needed to be rebuilt. The motorhome has had its day we had a good five years before our first child and used this vehicle quite a bit. Now we had three kids and could use a vehicle that was more family friendly.

We looked around and found a Ford dealership that sold used program cars. These vehicles were used by a company for a year for their sales force and were ready for sale at a set no haggle price. They had 30,000 to 40,000 miles on each vehicle and were priced below Bluebook.

The dealership had many 98 Taurus wagons that all had Cruise control, power everything and car phones. But the best feature was a third seat in the back. This allowed the kids to spread out a little on long rides.

We went to the dealership when it was closed and looked over the lot. We then checked on the internet to see what kind of track record these models have had. It turned out the first model in the late eighties and early nineties had problems with engine mounts that ruined many transmissions. But that was corrected long ago and the current models benefited from the earlier mistakes.

We did our home work, we knew which car we wanted and we decided to trade in the motorhome. Our hope was that we were not upside down on the loan for the motorhome. We also were worried because we were on the credit card debt repayment plan. Would that prevent us from getting the loan needed to purchase this car?

They test drove the motorhome and came back with $1500.00 over the payoff amount of the loan. That was good news, now we had to wait.....

We got past our first worry.

Would we get past our second worry? Would we be able to get the loan or would we suffer from voluntarily consulting and enrolling in a credit card debt counseling and repayment program?

...the dealership came back with a decent interest rate through Ford's finance group and our loan was approved.

We got past our second worry, the loan was approved.

So what is the answer to the big question above?

No! We had a good credit rating prior to enrolling in the credit card debt counseling and repayment program and we still had a good credit rating after enrolling.

I Never Paid My Credit Card Bill Late Until....

I enrolled in a credit card debt relief program.

That's right since I had to send in the money via money order, then the counseling group had to process it and send it out. This long process resulted in delays and late payments to the credit card companies for the first time ever.

How Were The Late Payments Handled?

I was very disturbed when I found that the new arrangement actually resulted in my payments being late. I contacted the counseling service and they said that this wasn't unusual in the beginning of the program and that I should contact the credit card companies and explain the situation to them and they will eliminate the late fee and remove the late flag from my account.

I did as they requested and sure enough the credit card companies responded as they indicated they would. But the next month it all was repeated again. This happened for a few months. The final solution was to push back the payment dates of some cards so there would be time for the counseling service to process the incoming payments.

It was a stressful time. I had never been late for any payment and as soon as I signed up I was being listed as late. Fortunately the group that I signed on with had processes in place to remove any late marks and fees from the clients record.

The good news is that now the credit counseling services use many more methods for accepting funds, from money orders to electronic fund transfers, so the problems I ran into should be fewer.