In London this week, I visited Argos, an outlet store that sells 18,000 items, ranging from plasma TVs to wedding rings, and all at reasonable prices. Waiting to buy an alarm clock for the princely equivalent of four dollars, I looked at a poster urging customers to buy stuff on credit. At the bottom of the poster, in large letters, was the phrase "APR 27.9 percent".

APR stands for the annual percentage rate charged by lenders. Some time ago, the British decided that any document relating to credit should show the annual interest rate charged, in order to produce better-informed consumers. That was a good idea, which has had no effect on consumers whatsoever.

Most people who borrow money to buy alarm clocks and other consumables care little about what a thing costs. Their main criterion is how much the monthly payments will be. It makes sense, sort of.

The hard question - "How much will this cost?" - can lead to unwanted answers such as "Too much" or "More than you can afford". The soft question - "How much will it be a month?" - leads to more acceptable answers, such as "$50" or "Not much".

Bermuda credit cards, I believe, charge 1.5 percent monthly on outstanding balances. Since a monthly interest rate compounds on unpaid balances, this equates to something just shy of 20 percent a year.

If, like most people, that figure doesn't cause your eyes to water, look at it this way: that big ticket item you have your heart set on, which would cost $1,000 if you paid by cheque, would cost about $1,200 if you pay it off over two years on your credit card.

You might think it was too expensive at $1,200 today, but that's what it would cost if you ask only the soft questions.

Of course, you have the right to say: "I don't care. I want it now. I want to pay the minimum every month, and whatever it costs in the long run is whatever it costs."

You have the right to say: "Give me a break. You are vicious and vile."

You even have the right to spend a good chunk of your time worrying about how you're going to make ends meet, and the right to never improve your financial condition.

But just because you have these rights doesn't mean it makes sense to exercise them.

You really ought to think a little. Now, I know only too well that you don't want to think about anything, ever.

You bought a ludicrously overpriced iPod, probably on credit, so that you could listen to music while you walk down the street, rather than thinking about this or that. At home, you watch TV rather than think about the events of the day.

It is a curious truth about modern living that few of us want to think about anything.

Thinking about things before taking action - looking before you leap - is the key to improving your success ratio in matters financial and in all other areas.

A little thought can go a long way. Yes, it might hurt your head, and yes, you will no longer be able to claim victim status and blame "the man" for all your misfortunes.

If you're not thinking regularly, you are playing into "the man's" hands. (Who is "the man", by the way? Dr. Brown? The Commissioner of Police? Me? It can't be me, because if I were "the man", you'd be singing a different tune. Plus, why must it be a man? Maybe it's Paula Cox. But I digress.)

The 27.9 percent annual interest rate made me stop and think, even though I was planning on paying cash for my alarm clock purchase. (I bought two, in the end, bringing my personal total to a dozen. Can't have too many alarm clocks.)

I thought, among other things, how outrageous 27.9 percent is for an annual interest rate. Usury, the practice of charging huge interest on loans, must surely kick in at lower than 27.9 percent. A couple of weeks ago, I received a letter from a fellow who thought that the monthly 1.5 percent on credit cards was an outrage, and he used capital letters to make his point.

Well, here's the bit you don't want to hear: you don't have to buy things on credit. Whoa. I'll stop and let you listen to a few songs on your iPod to make that horrible thought go away. Take your time. … There, feel better?

The truth is that you need never pay another cent of credit card interest as long as you live. Save the money first.

Then pay in cash, or by debit card, or by cheque. Half the time - by the day you can afford it - you'll find you don't want the stupid thing anyway, and the other half of the time, you'll buy it and have the deep satisfaction of not owing anybody anything. And all the time, your interest charges will be zero.

Becoming wealthy doesn't happen by accident. It certainly doesn't happen if you refuse to pay attention to your situation and your habits, and choose instead to pay what my correspondent rightly calls outrageous interest.

In the banks' defence, they charge such high rates because a lot of unthinking people overspend on credit cards and then can't repay. But the banks need no defending: their job is to make money for their shareholders. If you stopped paying interest on credit cards and bought bank shares with the money you saved, you would be "the man".

Think about that some time, when your iPod batteries run out.