There was a time when credit was not very easy to get. Borrowing money for any reason was actually considered shameful, and being "in debt" was simply scandalous. If people wanted to buy things that they wanted or needed they simply SAVED; they did without those things until they could afford to pay for them in cash. It’s kind of strange, how things have changed in the span short of a life time!
In pursuit of fat profits, those banks have very cleverly used every marketing strategy possible to make you want something now, not later, after all why wait a lifetime when you can have it now!
Simply put, anybody can get a credit card. Apparently you don't even need a social security number and just to prove the point, one man in California answered one of those "pre-approved" ads that came in his email and applied for a credit card in his dog's name.
In the "age" section he inserted the number "3" and for a social security number he entered 000-00-0000. The card was given.
It’s so frightening that people have become brain washed into not thinking about the future consequences of borrowing money using credit cards. It is so, so easy for people to get into deep debt with credit cards.
The financial institutions do their jobs well, they make you believe that using a credit card is not like you are borrowing money, but that is exactly what you are doing. If you use a credit card to pay for dinner and a movie, you've borrowed money to pay for the dinner and a movie, and the bill will come due at the end of the month. If you don't pay the balance on a credit card in full when payment falls due, then every item that you purchased just cost more because you'll be charged interest. As they say it is easy to borrow – but wait … what about paying back with heavy interest penalties.
Or looking at it another way, if you fail to make the minimum payment on time, you'll be charged penalties and additional fees.
I know - I don't sound like a big fan of credit cards. I'm really not, but they have become a necessity in today's mobile world. You can hardly buy online without using a credit card.
So where's the solution? Well here are some suggestions:
- The answer is to get ONE credit card. Come the end of each month, pay the entire balance on the card.
- Do NOTuse credit cards for everyday expenses.
- Don't buy your monthly groceries or pay for that dinner and movie with a credit card.
Almost all bankruptcies filed today are directly related to credit card misuse. You don't have to do that. Students beware of this pitful
The sad thing is that my 7 year old son recently said to me, dad why don’t you buy me the computer game using your credit card – I had to take him to one side and give him a simple explanation of the dangers of borrowing and the fact that you have to pay it back.
It is with much regret that some of us will wonder where did it all go wrong - the lessons of our parent’s generation we have failed to heed – live within your means.
Meanwhile, the shareholders and the directors of the banks continue to become richer at the expense of the unwary who fall into the debt.
