Day Twenty Eight:
Do you own a credit card? Or several? If so, have you thought about the impact all those plastic cards are having on your wealth as well as the environment?
These little suckers have a large negative impact on the environment in a round about way...not so much about the physical plastic of the cards but more so how they enable us to spend; spend; spend...mostly on unnecessary items that we don't really "need" but do really WANT! Feeding consumerism at its best and creating a large amount of waste (not to mention financial stress) at the end of the day. We should be spending our money more wisely, or rather, not spending our money as much...which is really wiser! Next time you reach for your credit card to purchase an item, ask yourself this:
- Do you really NEED that item?
- Is it going to positively impact your life in the long term and in a healthy way?
- Is it in line with your long term goals?
- Is it the most environmentally friendly option or are there better options you could be looking at?
If you're interested in saving yourself financially when it comes to credit cards and loans etc then a friend of mine introduced me to "Barefoot Investor", this guy will tell it like it is and cut through the BS that you get fed from banks and large corporations. He may sound offensive at times but it's probably what we all need to hear. Listening to his wise words will save you money in the short term and long term. It is worth sitting down and looking at all your accounts/credit cards/loans and seeing if there is a way to reduce the amount they are costing you. That is what I did last night and I was able to cut up the credit card that was costing me the most simply by paying it off using another account of mine with a lower interest rate. And I will be cutting up a second one today! Even though I haven't technically paid it off yet, it felt great to do and I know I have saved myself in the long run. I also stopped using any of my credit cards about 6 months ago in order to pay them off quicker. There are many ways to reduce the impact of debt: consolidate your credit cards on the lowest interest rate possible; apply for a balance transfer and make SURE you pay it off in the timeframe given; STOP spending on your cards! You will never pay them off if you keep using them. Make sure you put on more than the minimum amount each month. A lot of you are probably already on top of this but my emphasis is on all the spending we do as a society that is just not necessary. There is a very small amount of people rubbing their hands together and just getting richer whilst the poor get poorer. Don't sell your soul to consumerism...as the Barefoot Investor says: "Tread your own path!"