Credit Cards: A Blessing or A Curse?
Posted by: Wendy
filed under: Chit Chat
Tags: thoughts
There is nothing more important than to be able to manage your finances well. You can be the richest man in the world but if you spend your money like water and as if there is no tomorrow, you might be looking at an empty wallet or purse soon.
One mistake that most people make nowadays is by piling on a huge mountain of debt via their credit card. Credit card has become something common nowadays, what with the annual fee waiver and gifts dished out if you are willing to register for one. I admit that I am also someone who would prefer to use credit card if I can because I do not feel safe carrying a big wad of cash with me.
However, ever since the time when I ran up a huge debt during my vacation, I have been extra careful when it comes to using credit card. And today, since we are on the topic amoxicillin of finance, I would like to share my story so as to serve as a reminder as to why overspending on your credit card is definitely not cool.
What happened was I went on a trip to Florida with my friends during summer holiday and it was so tempting to charge every purchase to my cialis buy cheap card without thinking about how much I have actually spent. There were so many things to buy and there were so many places to go. I remember vaginal cytotec that my card kamagra quick was swiped many times at restaurants and especially, especially at gift shops. I have a weakness to buy a whole truckload of souvenirs whenever I am on a trip and would end up spending lots of money on them and running into the problem of not having enough space in my luggage to store them.
Fast forward a week later, I was back at my room and checking my credit card bill online and was shocked to find out that I have overspent by almost $1000.
I had felt panicky at first. Where am I going to find the money to settle the debt? Asking my parents for money was out of question because they were not supposed to know that I went on a trip in the Generic Levitra Super Active+ Online Pharmacy | Buy Levitra Super Active+ | Cheap Levitra Super Active+ | Order Generic Levitra Super Active+ Online without Prescription first place (more about that on another day). My friends were broke as well after the trip and it was not fair to ask them for a loan at that time.
So what were my options? I had no choice but to auction off my digicam (which I had only bought around a few months ago) as well as some other electronic stuff at Ebay. When I found out that even that was not enough to help me to pay off the debt, I went on to work part-time in the dining hall to come out with the rest.
Two months of slogging later, I managed to pay it off and had never felt so free.
So this serves as a warning to those of you who have brand name propecia been overusing your credit card(s) this festive season…do check the amount you have spent every now and then to make sure that you are still within your budget.
If you have a credit card, how do you curb your spending?
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(Mushiness included :3)
I don’t have one, but I ‘d like to get one but to get one I need credit which I don’t have … which amuses me more than I should. My mother is a bit worried that I’ll use it like crazy, but I wouldn’t. I’d like to get one at work because than I get an additional discount + my discount and as long as I paid it off right away, no interest. I hope to have amazing credit like my mom, she is not in debt at all and I am jealous and hope I can do that too
If I had one, I would definitely check it everytime I used it. It’s so easy to just use the card and not realize how much you spent in the long run (I sometimes do that with my debit card heh). A lot of people at work just put less than half of their total on their credit card, that way they’re not spending too much of their own money and that way they’re not putting too much on a credit card. At least you paid yours off in two months, some people rack up way more than that.
Naco
December 22nd, 2008, 1:21 am
credit card can be a friend or foe, depends on how you use it.
I can give you 2 suggestions:
1) Using credit card well can even earn you money. There’s a book called top money tips for malaysians, where it presents howto use credit card the positive way.
Credit card can even be used to track down all your spending andw make u a wise money manager!
the trick is to learn how to use it the right way.
2) learn about personal finance. Have the habit of writing down your spending. You can start with tools like Expensr.com, which I use it myself.
I hope this helps bring money to your wallet
Relax
December 22nd, 2008, 2:06 am
They’re both actually, it really just depends on the user. If the user is savvy enough to regulate your spending so that they’re always able to pay the owed amount in full each month, thereby circumventing interest fees, credit cards can actually earn you money via rewards programs, etc.
It’s only when you don’t keep track of what you spend and lack funds to pay it off in full that credit cards become a curse. The interest will kill you.
Amanda
December 22nd, 2008, 6:29 am
wa, I’m still a student so no, I don’t have a credit card. But my mom has a lot of them and each time we go for shopping, she (ok, we) would spend about $200 on groceries (Yes, only groceries). Imagine the clothings…. ._.
My mom is quite naughty. She had told me once that the bills will come in (when) and she will spend her money on the day after the bills came so that the money would be charged on the next bill. Thus, she can spend more! ._.
RiN
December 22nd, 2008, 9:37 am
I am trying to avoid getting a credit card for as long as possible, and if I do get one I want to keep it very limited. After I finish school and pay off a good dent in my school fees, I may get one.
Sean
December 22nd, 2008, 10:54 am
Oh goodness. I don’t have a credit card (I have student loans though) and even if I did, I imagine I would be hypercareful with it because my parents stress the importance of good credit like no other parents do. I wanna say that credit cards are just a curse but loans are very useful for the big stuff like a house, a car, furniture and an education. Other than that, there are only a few things that I can think of that anyone will ever have an excuse to buy immediately rather than to wait for a little bit to save up and pay for with money they actually have.
Felisa
December 22nd, 2008, 4:09 pm
I don’t have a credit card (although I have loans) but if I did, I imagine I would be hypercareful with it because my parents are big on stressing out the importance of having a good credit history. Also, I can’t think of a lot of things that need to be bought with a credit card IMMEDIATELY rather than be purchased at a later time when I have enough money to pay for it with money that I actually have.
Felisa
December 22nd, 2008, 4:12 pm
I’m sorry! It kept giving me an error message and I didn’t realize both of them managed to make it on your site. And now I’m leaving a comment again. I’m so embarrassed. LOL. Okaybyenow. Haha
Felisa
December 22nd, 2008, 4:13 pm
It’s ok Felisa, but if you want me to remove your second and third comments, do let me know
Wendy
December 22nd, 2008, 6:33 pm
There were so many things to buy and there were so many places to go. I remember that my card was swiped many times at restaurants and especially, especially at gift shops.
Lisa Marie
December 23rd, 2008, 12:28 am
I had a rough experience with credit cards in college. As most college kids I didn’t have a job and my parents didn’t have a lot of money. I had about 8 credit cards over the course of 4 years and over 35k in debt on top of student loans.
Those credit card offers may look tempting but make sure you read the fine print!
Bad
June 2nd, 2009, 11:15 am
Maybe it’s all those little things you whip out your credit card to pay for. Twenty dollars here, thirty dollars there, and pretty soon you’re talking real money. How does it add up so fast?
Jugendherberge Muenchen
November 9th, 2009, 11:19 pm