I’ve been wanting to do a post about credit cards and credit card companies. I have noticed that the interest rates on my cards have gone up (whether or not there is a balance) and my available credit has dropped, sometimes significantly.
Now, I rarely use credit cards; I have my Old Navy and Gap cards because those are the only places I shop, and they give great rewards. I use a Citi card for my online offers, because I do not want the companies I sign up with to have my bank information. Other than that, nada. There are a few with a zero balance that I will close at a later time, so as not to negatively impact my credit score.
Credit cards are evil, as are credit card companies. They cause you to feel as if you have a lot of money to spend; credit cards CHARGE you to spend money. That means you are LOSING money if you do not pay the balance in full every single month.
Now, come on, ya’ll. You can’t tell me this makes sense!
I’m not being judgmental. I’ve fallen into the credit card trap myself, and I’m working my way out of it… and paying for it.
I found this great post in my email this morning from Divine Caroline. I hope you will click over and check it out, because it is packed with great information on how sneaky credit card companies can be. One of the tricks mentioned is selling you fraud protection. I am here to tell you, this is very underhanded!
I WILL NOT pay for fraud protection, thankyouverymuch. And, guess what? I have received a phone call recently from the Fraudulant Credit Protection service on my Citi account. Do I pay for this service? Nope! Did they call me anyway? Yep! Long story short, they did not recognize the name of a company I purchased from and there were a few small charges, too. That is all it took for them to give me a ring… without any of my (extra) dimes.
What am I saying? Hear me, now, don’t miss this: IF YOU ARE PAYING FOR FRAUD PROTECTION, CALL NOW TO CANCEL IT! Was that loud enough?!
I am also telling you to GET YOUR CARD(S) PAID OFF NOW! Stop paying to use money that is not yours. Use your own; it’s free. If you need a little extra money, think about opening an interest-bearing checking account.
Quit playing by the credit card companies’ rules and play by your own. As Dave Ramsey puts it, “If debt is normal, be weird.” You don’t want to be “normal”! If you keep playing this game, you will get burned.
One of the reasons I started this blog is to raise awareness about credit cards. And, I am in no way saying that you are a bad person if you use credit cards. I use them… but I use them carefully. Some people do not need credit cards. If you are tempted to spend more than you earn, you need to consider a debit card (these don’t let you spend more than you have).
We all have habits that we need to break, or in this instance, cut up. We, as a nation, need to curb our addiction to credit cards. Especially in these bleak economic times where it looks as if there is no other way out. There IS a way out. Sometimes, you just have to search for it. Nothing in this life comes easily; there are no hand-outs. Do NOT fall into the credit card trap.
I’m with you, cut ’em up! 🙂
Credit card companies would come to our college campus and have students sign up for 'free' cards and enticing them with "gifts" (baseball caps etc.) … I fell into that trap then and it took me years to get out of it. It really does feel like free money and it took me a LONG time to realize how the interest was just piling up … now I've just got one for emergencies & when I travel. It's hard enough to manage that, but it's a lot better than where I was before! Good advice on the cards!!
We’re weirdos over here! And proud of it!! 😛