… Normally the money in hand decides the decision to buy something, but off late the ability to postpone the payment or anticipating some moneys coming by, we spend. More on impulsive buys, is what happens these days. The main aiding factor for this is the acceptance of Plastics (or in other words the Credit / Debit Cards) in many shops & establishments.
So we start looking for these signs upfront before we buy / dine or spend.
Seen at a shop in Purasawalkam.
Anyone who gets the card for the first time normally tends to go overboard because of the 5% honey trap.
When I got my first card (it was MerCard) I used to always calculate the 5% minimum that worked out to Rs.25 or Rs.50 for a Rs.500/Rs.1000 item.
It took some time for me to realize that there was a huge interest component (36% to 42%) that makes the revolving credit revolve around you eternally.
I managed for some more time taking more credit cards and playing a cash flow game with multiple credit cards. Borrow from Citi to pay SCB and borrow from SCB to pay HSBC and so on until one more realization came to me that I have caught a tiger by the tail.
Thankfully, I have come out of that big cycle by first cutting down on my spending and making more payment than the minimum required.
Credit Cards are double edged plastic swords!
Ram : Well said and well analysed by a CFO …