Although credit cards are becoming a more acceptable part of the financial scene, they are still regarded with doubts by many as being a major part of the “live now pay later” syndrome（综合症）.Along with hire-purchase, rental and leasing schemes（租赁项目）, they provide encouragement to spend more money. Of course, it is only the hotheaded who give way to the temptation to live, temporarily at least, beyond their means, and such people would no doubt manage to do so even without credit cards.

Advertising campaigns have, however, promoted a growing realization of the advantages of these small pieces of plastic. They prevent need to carry large amounts of cash and are always useful in emergencies.

All the credit card organizations charge interest on a monthly basis which may work out as high as 25 per cent a year, yet sensible purchasing using a card can mean that you obtain up to seven weeks, interest-free credit. Using the card abroad, where items frequently take a long time to be included on your account, can extend this period even further.

It is worthwhile shopping around before deciding on a particular credit card. It is necessary to consider the amount of credit granted; interest rates, which may vary slightly; the number and range of outlets（经销店）, though most cards cover major garages, hotels, restaurants and department stores; and of course, what happens if your card is lost or stolen. A credit card thief may be sitting on a potential goldmine particularly if there is a delay in reporting the loss of the card.

However, if used wisely, a credit card can cost nothing, or at least help to tide you over a period of financial difficulty.

“Regardless of social class, race and age, men say they hate to shop,” says Zukin, City University of New York sociology professor. “Yet when you ask them deeper questions, it turns out that they like to shop. Men generally like to shop for books, music and hardware. But if you ask them about the shopping they do for books or music, they'll say, ‘Well, that's not shopping. That's research.’”

In other words, what men and women call “buying things” and how they approach that task are different.

Women will wander through several 1,000­square­metre stores in search of the perfect party dress. Men will wander through 100 Internet sites in search of the perfect digital camcorder. Women see shopping as a social event. Men see it as a special task or a game to be won.

“Men are frequently shopping to win,” says Ann, a marketing professor at Loyola University of Chicago. “They want to get the best deal. They want to get the best and latest one and if they do that, it makes them happy. When women shop, they're doing it in a way that they want everybody to be very happy,” says Ann. “They're kind of shopping for love.”

“Teenage girls learn to shop from their mums and elder sisters, and they also learn to shop by examining articles in magazines like Seventeen,” Zukin says. “And although men's magazines such as GQ and Esquire have long had shopping articles, it's TV that has the eye of young male shoppers,” say Ann and Zukin.

“Television shows are used by young men in the same way Seventeen or Lucky is used by girls,” says Zukin, “to help make clothing and toiletry choices.”

“Of course, there are men who love to shop and are proud of it,” Ann says. And that is important no matter whether you buy a car or a frying pan. All men love to buy but don't want to get cheated. Ann adds, “There actually are men who are interested, for example, in cooking or shopping or chinaware or things around the home-they become kind of girl magnets. Women like it.”