Freezing your credit cards is a great method for keeping identity thieves at bay. For a small fee, you can essentially prevent anyone from looking up your credit information and subsequently render access to loans, mortgages, and general use impossible. While this is a good idea to keep thieves from taking out loans in your name, it actually serves as a great way to prevent yourself from making any risky financial moves as well. You’d have to go through your bank and pay a fee to gain access again. Too often, people find themselves in a cycle of buying and repaying to the point where it become inescapable. By creating consequences for these actions, you can significantly reduce the chances of falling prey to this cycle.
How Freezing Your Credit Cards Can Help You
It seems so easy to pull out your card to pay for something you want on credit. It may not be as obvious as buying a new car but even if you constantly purchase small items, you will eventually rack up the debt.
By freezing your credit cards, you essentially take yourself out of the game. You can pay a fee to unfreeze them but by the end of that process, you will have lost all interest in buying these small items. If you stop to think about it, you’re not going to go through this painstaking process with your bank, just to buy the new Avengers movie.
Freezing your credit cards also gives you the necessary time to think about major purchases as well. By the time you actually get through the process you’ve had the opportunity to think it through.
It’s important to read through the policies of your specific bank/credit company to ensure you have the level of access that will work best. Some policies still allow access to certain purchases. Take the time to learn about your credit card freezing process before taking action.
You should also keep in mind that the process to unfreeze your credit cards can be quite a while. This could become a problem in case of emergencies, like a car issue or replacing your air conditioning unit.
As long as you know your policies and are comfortable with the terms, you can temporarily take credit card spending out of the equation. You should use this time to apply your income to any debt. Freezing your credit cards simply forces you to develop better money management skills instead of using credit as a crutch and beginning the debt cycle anew.
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