In emergencies

I really hate being in debt, because to my mind that means that I have negative balance of money. But sometimes we couldn't help it, because there may be times that urgent situations call for urgent solutions.

This is a time when I can say that credit cards are definitely an asset! Imagine having to seek medical attention without any cash on hand? While there is supposed to be law against hospitals collecting a deposit on emergency cases, it is a fact that you do have to pay for your bill sooner or later. What I do then is pay off the bill with my credit card.

Then, after the storm is over, I have until the payment due date to determine if I have enough funds to pay for the credit card, hopefully from our emergency funds. If I do, I earmark that money to pay the credit card around the time the due date rolls around. But if not, I may try to look for personal loans who have an interest rate that's lower than the interest rate offered by credit cards (since credit card in the Philippines charge a whopping 3 percent EVERY MONTH!).  My mother gives me no-interest loans without a due date (except when she needs the money) and that is the best type of loan because it's not as pressuring.  However, I do make sure that I pay it off as soon as possible.