When you don t have cash to pay for goods and services, credit can be a helpful tool. Using credit is convenient, allows you to own and enjoy high dollar items before you have enough money to pay for them, and makes shopping by phone and internet possible. What s more, if you use credit to purchase an item and later discover that it s defective, chances are it will be easier to resolve your problem if you used credit to make the purchase. However, credit has its disadvantages.
Credit commits future income and encourages impulse buying.
Interest and other finances charges almost always make using credit more expensive than purchasing with cash. To learn to use credit wisely and to your advantage, select a topic. The Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service offers its programs to all eligible persons regardless of race, color, national origin, religion, gender, age, disability, marital or veteran status, or any other legally protected status, and is an Equal Opportunity Employer. The mention of any commercial product in this web site does not imply its endorsement by the University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service over other products not named, nor does the omission imply that they are not satisfactory.