For a significant portion of my life, a “credit card” was about as bad to me as rock and roll is to some people (The Devil’s Music, it was called in my youth). Even after rock and roll made its way into my life, credit cards still gave me the creeps. I had only ever heard bad things about them. Every adult of my childhood refused to have one. Every other commercial on TV, even between kids’ programs, was about debt relief, debt consolidation, getting out from underneath the crushing weight of the unholy Debt.
Naturally, without a single positive mention of credit cards anywhere to be found, I avoided them. I got my first checking account right around the same time as my first job. I was just as excited to get paper checks as I was to have a debit card. Cash was old news. I liked having that card. It made me feel like a grown-up, an adult. I rarely used my checkbook, and tried to avoid carrying cash. My debit card was the only thing I needed. My debit card was my trusty companion.
The problem with debit cards is that every swipe drains your checking account, but you don’t see it in action. You have to check your balance at the ATM, or call the number on your card, or check your bank’s website to find out how much cash you still have in the bank (I got my checking account before smartphones existed, so the regular updates and purchase alerts were not available, nor was the ability to check your balance with a tap).
When you carry cash, every dollar you spend is a dollar you watch leave your wallet or purse, followed by the feeling of it leaving your hand. It has a different effect on you than swiping a card. It’s easier to blow your cash with card swipes than by handing over piles of bills because swiping a card doesn’t actually “feel” like spending money. This is how I reached a point of needing a credit card.
Now I say “need” because I found myself stretched too thin, with $7 in the bank, and at least three days-worth of lunches I needed to buy until my next paycheck. I had just come out of a household where I had a strange relationship with money, so I was being reckless on my way to learning how to be responsible with it. I needed to find a way to pay for things for just a couple days until I got the money to actually cover them. I’m not talking about new computers and cars and clothes, I just needed $12 here for lunch and dinner and another $7 there for another lunch.
That’s how I wound up with a credit card. A card with a low credit limit gave me the ability to cover things when needed, without getting into trouble. It would also help build my credit, even though I didn’t understand the significance of that at the time. As a quick aside, good credit means you get better terms on loans and are more likely to be approved for credit and loan applications. Bad credit can also keep you from getting a certain apartment or a specific job.
If you’re already familiar with credit cards you might be thinking to yourself, “What on Earth makes you think that it’s a good idea to get a credit card when you have the kind of spending habits that result in your bank account hitting bottom well before payday??” That’s an excellent question. At this point in my life, I was just coming out of a home where I didn’t get to use my money the way most teens with jobs did. I had responsibilities. I had bills to pay, I had family that needed help. I was working 40 hours a week in high school. Fast forward to being in the military, and I had a paycheck every two weeks and no responsibilities outside of doing what I was told. It was time to enjoy my life. Unfortunately, that meant being a little financially carefree for a while until reality hit me in the face and I couldn’t buy lunch for a couple days. I had to go to the chow hall instead. Woe was I. The chow hall…
My first credit card, along with the responsible spending behaviors that I developed the day I put it in my wallet, led me to the point I’m at today. I have a collection of credit cards, each with a different purpose, and I get to enjoy the benefits and perks with which each card comes. I now believe that, generally, using a credit card is better than using cash, debit cards, or checks, starting in the next post about credit scores.
Lance Out Loud 