Living on One Income

Credit cards are very useful, only if you know how to handle them.

One big plus is its convenience. You can have big purchases and avail of the bank's installment plans, or you can even have cash advances in case of emergencies. But then, if you're not careful, one big purchase can lead to another, and then before you know it, things are getting out of control.

But actually, you can either make it work for you or against you, and everything will depend on how you handle it through your spending habits.

In my household, ever since we became a one-income family, my husband and I have vowed that we will no longer let these credit cards to take over our lives. So, now, we've taken the following steps in trying to get hold of our spending habits:

(1) We only charge what we can afford to pay.
(2) We pay our credit card bill on time.
(3) We always keep the receipts and make sure that we compare them with the actual charges in our card's statement of accounts.

These simples steps go a long way in helping us keep track of our expenses.