The Good End is over, but Christmas shopping and those at the beginning of next year will continue to attract more consumers. If you were excited about the offers and the interest-free months, you bought a lot and now you feel that you overdo it, we tell you what you can do to feel more relieved.
First check the status of your credits and the accumulated debt in your Special Credit Report from the Credit Bureau, you can do it for free once every 12 months.
Step two: identify the minimum payments, the dates in which you have to make them and place yourself in one of these scenarios to know what to do.
SCENARIO 1
THE SITUATION: I made too many purchases and I am not enough to meet my basic commitments including paying at least the minimum and on time on my credit card
TO DO?: You definitely bought too much and did not respect your budget. If you can return items, do so and thus lower your debt level. It is useless to buy at a discount if you are going to have to pay interest on your card; In the same way, it is useless to buy in months without interest, if you cannot meet the required payment and you lose the promotion.
Another thing you can do in the future is to spend less on things that are not really essential, so you will have more money to make more contributions to your card. One more alternative is to sell or pawn things that you no longer want or need. Remember that if you are very saturated with purchases or debts, it is not a good idea to make more commitments.
SCENARIO 2
THE SITUATION: I took the advice from scenario 1, but it still doesn’t reach me
TO DO?: Go immediately to the credit grantor, show that you are willing to pay and, preferably, restructure your credit in order to pay the total amount of your debt, but with conditions that will make your monthly payment lower.
Alternatively, you can think of requesting a rebate –a discount on your debt to be paid in a single installment– but remember that the discount they grant you is a loss for the institution that lent you and that will not look very attractive in your record. credit.
Did you miss Wolfgang Erhardt’s previous opinion column? Check it out here: Do you scare off lenders with your bureau?
SCENARIO 3
THE SITUATION: I made a lot of purchases, but I still have the possibility to pay at least the minimum and on time
TO DO?: If you can barely pay the minimum and on time, it would not be advisable to take on more debt. You have to concentrate on lowering the current level to continue paying, at least, the minimum so as not to generate interest or even be a totalero (pay the total of your credit card debt every month). Once you control your level of debt, you can make purchases with greater peace of mind by supporting yourself with a budget. Remember that there are always offers.
SCENARIO 4
THE SITUATION: I made a lot of purchases and can pay more than the minimum on time
TO DO?: Perfect, but remember that ideally you want to pay at least the minimum so as not to generate interest. If you decide to continue shopping, do not forget to readjust your budget with each purchase or with each new credit to maintain the certainty that you will be able to continue paying properly.
In case for your next purchases you are going to need a credit that does charge you interest, analyze which instrument is best for you to use, a credit card, a personal loan or a payroll loan, among others.
SCENARIO 5
THE SITUATION: I have plenty of resources to continue shopping
TO DO?: There is nothing to worry about, keep taking advantage of the discounts and interest-free months, however, remember to follow up on them because one thing is to believe that you have excess resources and another, very different, is to be sure that you do have excess. Consider that if you are in a comfortable position, you have to take advantage of that to increase your savings, to invest, purchase insurance or make additional contributions to your retirement fund. Using your money in this way can give you satisfaction a little longer than some of the purchases you made or will make!
Wolfgang Erhardt is a national spokesperson for Buró de Crédito, spokesperson for the Latin American and Caribbean Association of Credit Bureaus, and author of the book “I want a credit! How to get it and keep it ”.
Twitter: @WolfgangErhardt
LinkedIn: Wolfgang Erhardt
The opinions expressed are solely the responsibility of their authors and are completely independent of the position and editorial line of Forbes Mexico.