subject: The Problem Known As Credit Card Debt [print this page] Credit cards are no more an extravagance, they're practically an absolute necessity. So, you'd probably visualize a lot of people going for credit cards. In fact, lots of folks posses multiple credit cards. Thus, the credit card market is growing by leaps and bounds. However, the credit card market and credit card holders are posed with a huge problem called credit card debt. So that you can comprehend what credit card debt truly means, we have to comprehend the work-flow related to the utilization of credit cards as such.
Credit cards, as the name indicates, are cards on which you can get credit. Your credit card is a representation of the credit account that you maintain with the credit card service provider. Whichever payments you generate utilizing your credit card are in fact your borrowings that go towards your unsecured debt. Your overall credit card debt is the total amount you must pay back to the credit card provider.
You need to pay your credit card debt on a monthly schedule. You need to pay off your credit card debt by the payment due date. Failing to do so will certainly mean additional fees and interest costs. Nonetheless, you have the choice of making a smaller or minimum payment too, whereby you do not rack up late fees, but just the interest charges.
In the event you do not settle your credit card completely, the interest charges get added to it. Thus your debt continues increasing, because the interest rates on credit card are generally greater than the rates on various other kinds of loans/borrowings.
Additionally, the interest charges add to your credit card debt every month. If you keep on doing minimum payments (or no payments at all) the interest charges are computed over on the new total amount. Therefore you wind up paying interest on the last month's interest also.
Thus your personal debt builds up rapidly and soon enough you discover that what was at one time a somewhat modest credit card debt has expanded into an enormous amount which you find is very difficult to pay. Additionally, if you don't control your spending lifestyle, your personal debt rises even more quickly. This is the way the horrible circle of debt works.