Understanding Your Credit Card Personality

When it comes to credit card spending, there are a few different personality categories that you can fall into. Your credit card personality says a lot about you as a person. How you choose to spend the money and how often you use your credit card can say a lot about your lifestyle, and your personality.

There are four main types of credit card personalities. They include:

• The Early Bird
• Punctual Pete
• Clinging on Christine
• Reckless Ruth

The Early Bird

The early bird is the best type of credit card personality that you can have. You will pay all of your bills early. Before the monthly statement has had a chance to be sent to your home address, you will have paid off the full balance.

You are a responsible borrower, and you will typically have quite a good credit history. If you no longer need a credit card then you will close the account. Everything is done earlier than it needs to be, and this will also spill out into your everyday life. You will like to be early for everything and you hate being kept waiting.

Punctual Pete

If you like to pay your credit card debt off on time then your credit card personality is Punctual Pete. You will aim to pay off most of the balance and you will put aside one evening to write out all of your checks. Sometimes you may need the credit as a short term loan. However most of the time it serves as a convenience. Just like an early bird, you will have a really good credit rating.

Clinging On Christine

If you pay slightly more than the minimum each month then you will be a clinging on Christine. You will typically have quite a high balance left to pay. Your monthly income will not cover your monthly outgoings. It could be that a dramatic life event has caused problems financially, or maybe you are used to living off credit cards.

Whatever the reason, your debt is currently being slowly paid off. There’s a high chance that you could end up as a reckless Ruth if you aren’t careful. One missed payment and you would end up in financial trouble. You are only just hanging in there.

It is worth noting that in order to have a good credit rating then you need to be borrowing less than 30% of your limit on each of your credit cards. If you do then it is likely that you will be accepted for decent credit card offers. Most people who have this type of credit card personality will have average or low credit ratings.

Reckless Ruth

If you fall into the Reckless Ruth category then you will be facing serious financial problems. You will focus only upon paying the minimum balance each month and you will mainly pay later than you need to. This will cause late fees and other charges to be added onto your account. Instead of clearing your debt, you will simply be adding to it.

You will likely use your credit cards to fund everyday basic expenses. Even if you want to clear your debts, there are no possible ways that you can do so. It could be that you are simply just busy. You miss repayment dates because you lose track of time and forget when they are due. Or it could be that you don’t have the money to make the repayments on time.

Your credit card may be the only money that you can get your hands on at the moment. It is also likely that you will have a very low credit score. The thing to remember about this type of credit card personality is that you are in this position for a reason. If it is because you have been spending on impulse then you really need to address that problem. If you don’t then you will never improve your credit rating.

It is possible to make a few changes and turn your personality into more of a clinging on Christine.

The Credit Card Personality You Should Aim For

Perhaps the most realistic and sensible credit card personality to aim for is the Punctual Pete. All you need is to pay off as much as you can when you can. Aim to pay the balance off as early as possible to limit any interest charges.

The best way to pay off the debt is by direct debit a few days before it is due. You need to take into account the fact that credit card companies need time to process your payment, and this is particularly true if you are sending it through the post.

Searching for a Card that Matches Your Personality

It would be a good idea to search for a credit card that matches your personality. If you do like to pay the balance off early and you have a fantastic credit rating then it won’t matter as much which card you choose. You could opt for a card that offers you rewards. They will typically come with an annual fee but as you won’t be paying any interest on your purchases, the annual fee could be worthwhile.

If you like to pay off your debts on time and you are quite sensible, then search for a card that has a good annual interest rate.

Basically when you take into account how you spend and what your personality is, it enables you to find a card which will offer you the best benefits. If you are a clinging on Christine then aim for a card that won’t put you into serious trouble if you do miss a repayment. If you follow this advice you will be able to save yourself a lot of money and worry.

Choosing a credit card can be hard work and it is a good idea to compare as many different ones as possible. Try to be more sensible with your credit card repayments and it will help you to repair any bad credit that you may have.

This article was written by Timothy Ng. You can read more of his work at http://www.creditcardfinder.com.au/ where he has a number of comprehensive guides including choosing a credit card that matches your spending habits.