CCCS Warns About the Cost of Careless Credit Card Use
The Consumer Credit Counselling Service (CCCS) has urged people to consider whether putting items and costs on to their credit card is the best way for them to organise their personal credit.
A CCCS spokeswoman said that if you regularly find that you can only afford the minimum monthly repayment, it is time to rethink the utility of your credit card. “It could take years or a decade if you’re paying just the minimum amount. In fact, if you’re paying just the minimum amount you’re never going to fully repay all of it,” she explained.
“The longer it takes to pay off, the more it’s going to cost you. If you can, try and pay the full sum each month, if not then as much as possible. Paying the minimum amount unless you absolutely have to for a very short amount of time is going to cost you a lot more in the future.”
The spokeswoman added that a credit card borrower who has recently been made redundant may well be able to keep making the minimum payments, but ultimately will get no closer to paying off the debt. This could then lead to a full blown debt problem or bad credit.
Another means of credit which might be more suitable is an unsecured personal loan. Not only can such personal loans be used for debt consolidation – especially when it comes to paying off credit card bills – but when the monthly payment is made, the borrower can be secure in the knowledge that it is always going to pay off the original debt.
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