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Credit cards = spending over the odds

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Fri, 04/17/2009 - 16:53
Jewel's picture
User offline. Last seen 1 week 6 days ago. (Offline)
Joined: 03/27/2009
Posts: 864

Studies have shown that we are, on average, two to three times more likely to purchase an item when we're using a credit card rather than paying with cash. We're also willing to pay, on average, 30 percent more for the same item when paying by credit card. That's how much the credit card skews our critical judgment when we go shopping.

This is a good article I thought. I hope you like it too!
http://green.yahoo.com/blog/daily_green_cheapskate/11/give-up-credit-car...

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Fri, 04/17/2009 - 19:40
#1
greenmachine's picture
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Joined: 12/20/2008
Posts: 921
Re: Credit cards = spending over the odds

That was good, thank you Jewel.  LOL@ the Debtors Dementia. That was a very sharp observation by the author. :)

The consequences of buying something on credit, of going in debt, seem remote, almost like we're spending Monopoly money. It causes us to buy things we can't afford and often don't even want. Credit cards trigger what I call "Debtor's Dementia," a delusional state in which debt begins to seem natural, and where a few thousand dollars in credit card debt starts to make things like taking out a second mortgage on your house or borrowing money to buy a new car you can't afford seem like reasonable things to do.
BTW, you can tell if you have a problem with credit card abuse -- and early onset Debtor's Dementia -- if you ever have your cards stolen and notice when you receive your next monthly bill that the thief spent considerably less than you do during a normal month. ;-)


Show me your garden and I shall tell you what you are. - Alfred Austin

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Sat, 04/18/2009 - 12:24
#2
User offline. Last seen 1 week 5 hours ago. (Offline)
Joined: 02/22/2009
Posts: 471
Re: Credit cards = spending over the odds

We're also willing to pay, on average, 30 percent more for the same item when paying by credit card.
 
I absolutely do not agree with this statement. Is it just me, or does no one else make purchase decisions based on the "total real price" of an item?
 
I  pay for everything that I purchase with a CC, and get a 1% rebate from my CC, so my price is always about 1% less than yours if you pay for the same item with cash.

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