The Time Cost of Your Credit Card Debt

Are you going to let me make you angry if it will help you save some money?

I want you to think about something: How much money is your credit card or your loan interest debt costing you every month? I’m not just talking about the financial cost, which you might be aware of, but also the time cost… What is that debt costing you in terms of hours?

Credit Card Debt is Eating Your Free Time!

The banking industry is an industry that makes its profit from arbitrage: Lending one person money for a certain amount and making a higher percentage on that than what they pay out to somebody who saves. For example, they might charge someone who borrows money 5%, but they only pay out 2% to someone who saves, and then that 3% difference is where they make a profit.

Then there are credit cards. If you look at just about any bank, they market their credit cards a little like candy or even drugs. If you have a lot of credit card debt, they don’t want to give you more, but if you don’t have any debt, they're constantly looking for ways to get you to get more.

I recently got a letter from one of my banks saying something like “We notice you haven't used our credit card for a while. That's improved your credit score, so now instead of charging 25% we’re going to charge you 15%. Now go spend some money!”

Now, a few years ago, when I needed my credit card and I could really have benefited from those rates, of course, I wouldn’t have been offered them. I only get them now, when I’m more secure, and it really ticks me off.

Why You Should Be Angry About Credit Card Debt

If you work for a bank, I'm not looking to offend you. Every business model has its light side and its shady side. I work in the insurance industry, so I should know. But the way that many banks sell us credit cards just strikes me as a financial burden, and a situation where we’re just constantly working to make somebody else rich.

In case you hadn’t noticed, I want you to get annoyed about your debt. I want you to look at it and think “Man that's sad. That's so stupid. I'm kicking myself in the butt with this debt.”

If you're an entrepreneur, and you've strived all these years to work for yourself, and you won your own company or you do your own thing, that's awesome. But if a huge part of your money is going to pay off credit card debt, you're actually working for somebody else.

I want you to take a look at credit card debt and really see it for what it really is. It is one industry's way of making money off people who are not smart enough to do otherwise. Banks can be awesome and again, like any other business model, there are different sides to what they do. But like most other business models, they're happy to sell you their high priced, less valuable products if you'll take them.

I encourage you to really think about the time your debt is costing you, not just the money. Money becomes something we convince ourselves we can make up later. But if you're making $25 an hour, and your credit card interest cost you $500 a month, that just cost you 20 hours. That's half a week’s work for most people. That's a lot of time, just because you bought something before you could afford it.

Getting Out of the Credit Card Debt Trap

If you’re looking for a more detailed post about reducing credit card debt, we have one here.

Otherwise, the simplest way to deal with credit card debt is to get your highest interest rates paid off as quickly as possible and then just stop using them. If you want, you can cut up the cards but keep your account open, as this can help to build your credit score, which can be useful.

But overall, this is just about considering how much time it's costing you and how much you're working for the bank or somebody else so that they can profit, and not at a reasonable rate like a 3% or a 5% but at outrageous rates of 15%, 20%, and 25%. You’re working just to make money for someone else!

I know I usually take a positive approach to things. I usually don't like to do the “us versus them” thing, and again, if you work for a bank, I'm not looking to take out the industry or put down the industry. But credit cards are one of the things that at the end of the day if you don't use them wisely, it’s only the banks in general and their corporations that benefit.

Even though they're made up of people, banks are corporations, and the entire purpose of a corporation is to grow, to make more money and to perpetuate itself. So they're not going to stop themselves from doing something that benefits them unless either their clients decide to go elsewhere, or the government regulates on that. Considering that politicians might be funded by the lobbyist or paid for by the bank, which might not happen though.

In any case, it’s up to you to remove yourself from that situation.

The 4-Day Work Week Entrepreneur Academy

If you want to learn more about how you can create your own 4-Day Work Week, go to 4dayworkshop.com, where you can learn about our live event, the 4-Day Work Week Entrepreneur Academy.

We spend 2 days focusing on creating the framework and a Game Plan for you to set up your 4-Day Work Week lifestyle. We do hot seats where we focus on your business and your situation. We do exercises where we share our ideas with each other and we help build a network and a community of people that support each other.

This live event is supported by an online program, a Facebook group, regular meetings over Zoom calls and then face-to face-calls over the internet where we support each other and help each other create a 4-Day Work Week.

We have a community of people already doing this, and the 4-Day Work Week Entrepreneur Academy is the best place for you to go to get started and come to one of our live events and get doing this. I look forward to seeing you at one of our workshops.

As always, I look forward to helping you make more money in less time doing what you do best, so that you can better enjoy your friends, your family, and your life.