Do You Need Another Credit Card?
Written by travelwell on March 8th, 2008Do You Need Another Credit Card?
With some Americans drowning in debt you may wonder if you really need another credit card. However, statistics can often hide the truth as to the condition of the average American when it comes to credit card debt.
Many credit analysis are constantly predicting doom and gloom from the fact that the average America has seven or eight credit cards and that the unwise use of credit cards is skyrocketing.
The following more comforting information is from the MSN Money website.
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Consider what would happen if you and 17 of your friends and family were in a room with Bill Gates and Warren Buffett. The average net worth of a person in that room would be north of $4 billion. The fact that everybody else’s personal net worth was just $100,000, or $1 million, or even $10 million, wouldn’t affect the average that much because the big boys are sooooo much wealthier than you.
Take heart: We’re actually frugal
In much the same way, a relatively small population with huge credit card balances can skew the average to make it look like the typical American is carrying a much bigger debt load than he or she actually is.
Consider that 23.8% of American households have no credit cards at all — no bank cards, no retail cards, nothing.
Another 31.2% of the households the Fed surveyed paid off their most recent credit card bills in full.
So together, the households that owed nothing on credit cards equaled 55% of the total.
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While it is true that the overuse of credit cards and the running up large unpaid balances can land just about anyone in a heap of debt problems, it is also true that the wise use of credit cards offers a world of convenience and expanded opportunities to shop wisely. For instance you might use a credit card to purchase an item that you really badly need when it is on sale when you may have to pass up the opportunity if cash were required.
The credit cards that you use are also important. It is worth your time to replace high APR credit cards with cards that offer you a better rate. You may also be able to transfer balances from one card to another credit card and pay a much less rate on the transferred balance. You might also be able to receive a card that offers a great deal more in rewards and benefits that your present card offers.
You can compare credit cards very easily and apply for the cards that suit you best at LifeCreditCards.Com
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Tags: credit, credit card, Credit Cards
