Many of us buy things with our credit cards without giving much thought to the consequences of the purchase. The problem with credit cards is that when you buy with a credit card it really doesn’t feel like you are spending money. These days the only thing you have to give the store is your pin number. Your brain just does not compute this as spending money. You don’t even see the result of your purchase on you credit card statement for anything up to a month.

So what can you do about this? You need to think about every purchase you make with your credit card. Do not just hand it over while you think about something else. Get into the habit of thinking about your credit card statement every time you use the credit card. Think about how long it will take to pay off that item you are just buying. Ask yourself if the price you are paying for the item plus the interest still makes the purchase look like a good deal. Then think what else you might have done with that same money if you didn’t make the purchase.

Get yourself into the habit of really thinking about what you are doing every time you use your credit card and you will discover that over time you will spend less and have more spending money. Thinking about your spending will start to make spending money on your credit card feel real and avoid some of those careless purchases we all make now and again.

Money Magic: Seven Simple Steps to True Financial Freedom (Quick Reads)

We have a tendency to laugh at the old myths and legends of the past. We find it hard to believe that people could be so ignorant as to believe that the world was flat and that women who healed people with herbs were witches who were in league with the devil. Fortunately we now know that if a doctor gives you a drug that makes you well then it doesn’t mean you are infected by the devil and if you travel around the world you won’t fall over the edge of the world.

So what will historians of the future make of some of our own current myths and legends? We have been encouraged to think that credit cards allow us to buy more things and lead a better life. In the short term this may be true. In the longer term it is a total lie.
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Money Magic: Seven Simple Steps to True Financial Freedom (Quick Reads)

Your financial comfort zone is that level of debt where you don’t worry about your debts because they are easily managed and cause you no worries. If you are carrying a heavy debt load your debts will weigh you down and give you concerns even though you can manage to pay the bills each month.

If you have a secure, reliable income your comfort zone will be higher than if your income is insecure and less reliable. Your debts may seem to be manageable but that does depend on everything staying the same. Unfortunately very few things do stay the same. It is one of the few certainties in life, things will change. So how ready are you to cope with change in your financial circumstances?
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Money Magic: Seven Simple Steps to True Financial Freedom (Quick Reads)