Purchasing Power

He is driving a fancy car. He always put on swanky suits that worth a month salary; he dines at nothing less than Dome, having his coffee break at Starbucks, and shops at boutiques.

And until today you’re grinning, envious eyes stare and your heart yell to wish you have the same luck as he is.

And what possibly a four-figure-salary-basic like you have done to achieve your desire? How do you save your money for that hip handbags or shoes that have been screaming your name at the counter?I know most of my friends finding way to cope with their expenses for their daily needs and also to submit to their ever-growing wants.

Yup, if you guess they will opt for a credit card, you are right.

I’ve got this table from HSBC, where they mentioned about the pros and cons of having a credit card.

Pro's
Immediate use of Goods and services
-Get it now, pay later. This is esspecially helpful for big value items such as a piece of furniture, a car, or a house.
Shopping convinience
- Credit cards and charge cards allow you to shop and travel without carrying a large amount of cash. They also provide a monthly record of your spending.
Reservations and purchases can be done via phones and internet
-Credit cards and charge cards make it possible to reserve rental cars or hotel rooms, or buy tickets of other merchandise over phone calls or internet.
Emergency cash
- Credit can be a temporary solutions if there is any financial difficulties.

Con's
Its costs money
-Purchases paid of over time cost more, often much more, than cash. The 'irresistable bargain'
may not be a good deal if you add in the cost of credit.
Its tempts overspending
- Credits make impulse buying easy. Some consumers goes deeply into debt buying items they dont really needs or they can't afford.
It ties up future income
- credit purchases means you have to pay for the item, plus interest, in the future. This means you have less cash in the future.
It may result in losses
- If you fail to make payments on time, you will lose the merchandise. For loans that require colleteral, you may risk losing your valueable property.

I know a lot of people using it, responsibly. (I hope.), There’s a lot of reasons (and excuses too.) Personally I feel, as long as the world is not going to end if I don’t have one, so I won’t. I like to have my own purchasing power (where did I hear that from?). I can say that I’m savvy in every aspect of shopping world entirely. Everything I own, I will make sure it’s worth it. Although it is frustrating and green with envy to see everything else is own by everyone else, but I rather fully own my belongings right after I bought it. If its anything needs to be purchase in a lot sum of money; there’s always a bankard.

A Bankard is your ATM card that act as a debit card when you buy something; which the money will be credited from your account balance. So far, all giant outlets and petrol station and nationwide stores and boutiques are using this service, and there is no extra charge. It is much safer and you will not tend to be overspending; and you have the total control of it. And if you do (overspending) you may not risk of increasing the amount of credit charge as you are solely responsible for it, and it will stop your buying advantage for a certain minimum amount of your account balance.

So, friends, although its tempting to spend and swipe; spend wisely and remember to settle your debt before its hunt you down.