Britain’s Love Affair with Credit Cards
Britain’s back to its good old habit of borrowing and spending, at least according to the stats....
Credit card lending increased by 12.4% over the past year, according to the Bank of England, that's a pretty sharp increase in a relatively short period!
The 2008 financial crisis (long time ago!) put the breaks on credit - banks and people got more cautious, but now we're back on the lending, some of the major banks are starting to push push on customers!
Pros and Cons...?
On the upside, people are possibly spending more because they actually feel secure. Inflation’s cooled off a bit, wages are inching up, and confidence seems to be coming back. And this gives the economy a little boost!
However some of these credit spenders are going to be struggling and this is just about paying the bills.
And let's not ignore the interest rates... at around 20% for typical cards, that extra spending racks up pretty quickly.
Final Thoughts...
I mean i've nothing against credit, but for me I like to limit this to larger items, namely a house or a car, paying hefty interest on smaller consumer items I can live without makes no sense, but when it's ESSENTIAL that's another matter...
I've had credit cards forever, but have hardly ever paid any interest. They are more of just a convenience for managing spending, plus there are points schemes to give you something back. I really try to avoid debt.