First the Credit Crunch and now the Plastic Crunch
By: TonyHG | Posted: 11th February 2008
A headline in the Financial Times (FT) on 9th February 2008 states “It’s more than personal as credit gets tough”. And later in the same edition of the FT, journalist Sharlene Goff reports that “Even those with a faultless payment record face reduced access to credit as banks review future ability to pay.” It is interesting to observe how the behaviour of financial institutions has shifted from “greed”, where they were prepared to accept higher levels of risk in order to increase profitability, to “fear” where there is virtually no appetite for risk, in less than a year.
Emma Thelwell writing in The Telegraph, a UK broadsheet newspaper, on 6th November 2007 noted that: “The prospect of a credit card crunch in the UK has increased, experts have warned, after lenders tightened their criteria and hiked their fees for cash withdrawals.” Business Week on the 21st January 2008 reported that “Nearly half of all American households have credit-card debt.” The Plastic or Credit Card Crunch stems directly from the Subprime Crisis. An article headline in the Financial Times of 11th February 2008 reports that “Subprime credit losses forecast to reach $400bn by G7 leaders.” This article can also be read at ft.com Substantial losses such as this have consequences and are now directly affecting consumers’ access to credit. The credit card crunch will certainly be felt by many living in Europe, North America and several other countries whose financial institutions have been affected by the subprime crisis.
With the tightening of credit upon us, those in need of credit will certainly be making adjustments to their financial arrangements. The first obvious thing to do is to reduce the need for credit by living within one’s means. In other words, one must try to reduce spending and repayments so that they are less than income. But with the increased cost of borrowing, this is easier said than done. So consideration may be given to changing one’s job or asking for a raise in order to increase income. In the current economic climate this may be risky since employment opportunities are reducing with evidence of layoffs particularly in the financial sector. Consideration may be given to an evening / part-time job.
What about the possibility of earning from the comfort of your home on a part-time basis? After all you have spent the day working at a full time job. Perhaps those rarely used items in the home could be sold on eBay? That will pay a few bills potentially but will not result in a second income over time. If you have the ability to surf the internet and are prepared to learn while you work then internet marketing offers great potential. One instance of this my be viewed at NetWealthMaker.com Of course, if you are not prepared to put in at least two hours per day then internet marketing will not be a serious option for you. That would be a pity since many people are earning significant sums of money doing internet marketing. For instance one of the top earners Armand Morin intends to hit a turnover of $20 million in 2008. Admittedly, he now has six people working for him. There are many earning in excess of $50k per month through their internet marketing activities.
To sum up, there is a way to escape the pains of the credit card crunch – internet marketing which enables you to work from home. Do read more articles at 4InternetMarketingReviews.com In fact, bookmark the site.
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Tags: greed, credit card debt, appetite, financial institutions, repayments, article headline, profitability, financial times, business week, crunch, american households, cash withdrawals, emma, subprime crisis