Never use a credit card
Never use a credit card. If I had it my way I would be able to stop right there and none of you would use credit cards and life would be good. I don’t take advice from strangers without a good explanation, so I will divulge.
I tried to think about it, and I just can’t think of an instance when a credit card really helped someone, at least not in the long run. My belief is that credit cards are only good for people who are incredibly organized, pay everything on time, and always live below their means. The thing is anyone like this probably doesn’t have a credit card or doesn’t use and need it.
Credit cards started out so that people could buy things on credit meaning they could buy something now without any money and pay them back later. This sounds great and seems like it would work just as well, but just like any great thing, it’s almost human nature to take advantage of it. While we take advantage of borrowing this money, the credit card companies come right back and take advantage of us. There’s no way to beat them except by resisting.
Today there are people with thousands of dollars of credit card debt. When one card is maxed out, they move onto the next. Often, credit cards are looked upon as a way out. When you’re stuck in a nasty situation and you need money fast, you just reach for the credit card. If you had an emergency fund, this would be avoided all together.
Another common way to get trapped in credit card debt, and probably the most common, is the allure. To many, it feels like free money. They are more apt to spend more and build up more debt that they wouldn’t have otherwise done if they only had cash.
A common argument for credit cards is that you can’t order online or over the phone. First of all, I would say this is a good way to resist spending more. If you can’t spend online, you may just be cutting out a huge part of your spending area. Even besides that, there is still the debit card, or check card.
Almost every bank will offer you a check card attached to your checking account. It works exactly like a credit card except that it’s coming from your checking account. Instead of borrowing, you’re using your own money.
Credit cards are just another way to borrow money which is how you get into debt. My goal is to never have debt, except maybe a mortgage. Loans and credit card debt are just going to hold me back from my financial and life goals. That is not what any of us need at any time in our lives.
