In the first quarter of 2022, there was a increase in credit card use. Comparing with the same period last year, Brazilians are using this modality 42.4% more, generating a transaction of R$ 478.5 billion. The data were found by a survey by the Brazilian Association of Companies (Abecs).
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According to another survey, this time carried out by the National Confederation of Commerce (CNC), the end of April this year was marked by a percentage of 77.77% indebtedness, a number higher than in 2021, when the percentage was 67.5% in the same period.
According to Larissa Brioso, who is a financial educator and content leader at Mobills, this high debt rate is the result of many mistakes made by consumers. The first is to think that the credit card is an extension of income, committing all net income to spending on it.
For her, the ideal is to consume a maximum of 30% of income with the credit card. Larissa says that the estimated expenditure on essential things should be 50% of the income. If we take into account that the person spends more than 30% of the income on the credit card, the budget will be very limited, as it is always good to have a reserve for unforeseen circumstances.
And when these unforeseen events happen or the person's income is already very compromised, comes the famous minimum payment, which ends up becoming a real snowball. This is what the educator says: “When this happens, a snowball debt is generated, which has one of the highest rates. It is estimated that in 2021 alone, revolving interest credit was above 300% in Brazil. If the person who cannot pay the bill enters the revolving credit, he will have to pay even higher bill expenses. If you were unable to pay the first installment, what guarantees that you will be able to pay the debt the following month, which is still accrued with interest?”, she asks.
Another mistake made by card users is failing to track the bill without worrying about carrying out financial control. Lack of planning on spending can lead to very high bills.
The installment of purchases can also be a danger to financial health, even more so when the installments have interest. It is always best to bet on buying in cash, even if it is on credit, as there is often a discount. Installment should only be done when there is some advantage, and always planning finances for the coming months.
In this scenario, it's always good to opt for cards that offer some kind of advantage, such as cashback, points and airline miles, which at least make purchases more positive.
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