by C.V.Rajan

Created on: October 07, 2009

The secret of successful personal financial management lies in your being the master of your credits and not the credit becoming your master. The advantages of using a credit card will be realized only when you can be the master of your credits and not otherwise.

This mastery lies in your shrewdness of not succumbing to the temptations that a credit card company expects you of.

Now, list out what the credit card company overtly or covertly expects from you:

1) The credit card company wants an annual fee to be paid by you, if you want low interest rates on your deferred credits

2) The credit card company wants a high interest rate on your deferred credits, if the company offers you a free annual fee credit card

3) The credit card company wants you to make only a part payment of your credits on the due date so that your credits get accumulated and you end up paying high interest rates

4) The credit card company wants you to spend more and more through the credit card and they reward you bonus points that can be converted to monetary benefits.

5) The credit card company keeps on sending you pamphlets of "sale" items that are reportedly offered to you at "huge" discounts and keeps tempting you to purchase them through the credit card.

6) With a hope that you will fall into any of these lures, they offer you a free credit period in which you will not be charged with interest.

Now as a user of credit card, you gain all the advantages of Credit card only if you do not fall into any of the traps that the credit card company wants you to fall into!

So, what should you do to double-cross the intentions of the credit card company?

1) Get a credit card with no annual fee

2) Pay all your purchases through credit card in full on the due date

3) Never get lured to purchase any of the "sale" items, however attractive and tempting they are

4) Never go on a spending spree with the credit card without the income needed to pay your purchases within the due date

5) Never get attracted by the bonus points

If you manage all these things, you get the following advantages:

1) You enjoy the free credit period on your purchases

2) You have the security of not carrying cash physically

3) You get some benefits of insurance that the credit card company offers you

4) You get the benefit of making your purchases through the Internet, without the bother of going out to a mall and then getting tempted to purchase unwanted things in the process!

The advantages of using the credit card are to be realized by you only by being widely awake. It requires a gritty mind that does not budge easily to temptations.

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