Enough Wealth: Impulse Buying and the Dangers of Credit

Tuesday, 13 November 2007

Impulse Buying and the Dangers of Credit

Citibank sent me an offer to increase the credit limit on my Redicredit account by $10,000 to $55,000. I don't use this account very often (it used to have an interest rate around 10% so was OK for short term use when I wanted to write a cheque for a mutual fund investment or share purchase plan, but recently the rate was increased by several percentage points) and I don't carry a balance (except when they offered a 0% rate for 6 months which I used to pay some interest due on one of my margin loan accounts). However, it is always handy to be able to write out a cheque for a large amount if needed, so I'm sending in the acceptance form.

Today I also received an email notification about an online coin auction being run by the coin dealer I had bought some silver coins from last year. I had a browse through what was on offer and saw a 2002 10oz Proof Silver "Evolution of Time" coin was on offer with a minimum bid of $275 and no offers as yet. After a quick check on the internet I confirmed that this coin is currently on sale from the perth mint for $367, so at $275 it would be a good deal. I entered a maximum bid price of $276, which meant my initial (and only) bid was at the minimum price of $275. I didn't bother checking if anyone else bid on this item during the day, but tonight I received an email confirming that I had "won" the bidding on this coin. So I now have to arrange payment and delivery.