A bit naughty, mischievous
This card is not as well behaved as the Cute and Cuddly card, but at the moment, things are reasonably under control. Quite a lot more than the minimum amount is paid off every month, so that the overall balance is decreasing, month by month. However, this could all change if this card’s credit limit leads its owner into temptation. Have a look at the
Cool Tools page to see how long it will take you to pay off your credit card balance at the current rate – if you never use it again. Resisting can take a lot of will power. Take this quick quiz to see how whether your credit card is leading you astray? Then scroll down to see whether yours is heading towards danger.
MAX’s reply
- You seem to know your own mind when it comes to paying your share. Hopefully you are not trying to skive out of paying, unless it’s understood that this is what’s expected, for whatever reason.
- Feeling pressured to pay more than your share is different from an act of pure generosity. It can suggest insecurity, lack of confidence or a need for approval. The message being received could be that you are rolling in money and it could lead to an expectation that you always pay far more than your share.
- Most people don’t want to appear mean, others don’t care. You don’t seem to have fallen into the trap of throwing your money around just to avoid appearing mean.
- Not wanting to appear mean is quite normal. It just depends on the lengths to which you go to achieve this. If you make a conscious decision to spend a particular amount, in full awareness of the consequences, that is one thing. It’s very different when you are being impulsively generous without considering the amount or whether you can afford it.
- Always checking the bill is reasonable a good habit to have - even if you think it’s going to be trivial, so well done there. A friend of mine paid for a three course meal for four instead of the two coffees they’d had, and only noticed when her credit card statement arrived. By time it was too late.
- Plastic is not to let you spend more than you can afford. Plastic is great as a convenient way of buying things as part of conscious budgeting. NOT having a conscious budgeting plan is potentially very dangerous.
- When you go out, you appear not to worry about the cost, which is great so long as you are safe in the knowledge that you can afford it, rather than having the evening spoilt by the thought of the cost.
- Well done for trying to keep to a spending limit, but if you can’t afford the evening out, what are you doing there? There are special occasions when we like to go a bit over the top. That’s what saving is for, so you can go out and have a special evening knowing that you can afford it. The alternative can be spiralling debt and regret.
- When you know up front that the bill for the evening can only come to a certain amount, it’s easy to relax and enjoy yourself. This is a great strategy and very simple to do. I hope you’re relaxed about the bill for the right reason!
- When you share of the bill works out to much more than you are happy with, you have to ask yourself “why?” Chances are you could and should have been able to find out beforehand how much it was likely to be, and make a decision to go or not, based on that. That might sound harsh, but it’s true.
- It’s always a good plan to AVOID getting into a position where you have to spend more than you wish. It’s also a good idea to say up front that you don’t want to spend more than a certain amount, so you are being clear that cost is an issue. You would be surprised – rather than it being uncomfortable for you, it’s often the case that others will be relieved that someone else has spoken their fears.
- It would appear that you only spend what you intend.
- Most people would send faulty goods back, why not faulty food? This is all about confidence and facing difficult situations. Many people are afraid of confrontation and don’t want to look unreasonable. If they have been invited out by someone else, they may also feel it would be rude or ungrateful to their host to complain. If you have a clear idea about why your food is not right, and you can’t explain it to your host or the waiter, then it’s likely you would benefit from improving your assertiveness skills.
- You are assertive enough not to put up with faulty goods and a restaurant is no exception.
- Having a ball park idea of “what is a reasonable” is a great relaxed attitude to have – control without obsession. This is a learnt skill – you need to develop an expectation of what things should cost, you make decisions based on these expectations and you will probably challenge the bill if it’s different from your expectations. When you are awake about money, you avoid most of the unpleasant surprises.
- You have an expectation of what things should cost, and you make decisions based on these expectations. Because you are awake about money, you will avoid many unpleasant surprises. If you can achieve control without obsession it’s a great relaxed attitude to have!
- It is always good to challenge the bill if it’s wrong. This is for two reasons. One is that it’s important feedback to whoever produced the incorrect bill. Second and more importantly, if you were being charged the wrong amount for shoes or if you were buying something on the internet, would you complain? A restaurant is no different.
- Challenging the bill when you spot an error means you’re confident enough in your own judgement that you will stand up for what’s right.
- A tip is for good service. Why pay for good service you haven’t had? It’s like paying for a DVD with nothing in the case. The tip is feedback. Why would you want to send the wrong feedback – you’re encouraging bad service! It seems as though you need some guidance.
- I’m impressed! By leaving no tip for no service you’re sending the right feedback to raise standards and get good service in the future!
MAX’s observations
I hope you’ve enjoyed this fun quiz. I was meant to make you think about you attitude to money and how safe you are. Being in control of your money is very important. MAX can help you gain more control by helping you make decisions that are right for you. MAX can help with, facing difficult situations, standing up for yourself, being able to resist temptation, saying “no” when pressured (and mean it), sorting out difficult situations and a whole lot more.