Finance and Credit Professional

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 wealth, those banks have 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, anyone who wants one can get a credit card. It seems you don't even need a social security number and to prove the point, one man in what must appear to have been a fit of rage 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 frightening that people have become brain washed into not thinking about the future consequences of borrowing money using credit cards. It is easy for people to get into deep debt using 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 your dinner and the 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, every item that you bought just costs more because you'll be charged interest. As they say it is easy to borrow – but wait … paying back is never easy.

Or put it another way, if you do not make the minimum payment on time, you'll be charged penalties and additional fees.

I know, I know - I don't sound like a big fan of credit cards. I'm really not, but they are a necessary evil in today's mobile world. You can hardly make an online purchase without using one.

So where's the solution?  Well here are some suggestions:

1. The answer is to get ONE credit card. At the end of each month, pay the entire credit card balance.
   
2. Do NOTuse credit cards for everyday expenses.
   
3. Don't buy groceries or pay for the aforementioned dinner and movie with a credit card.

Almost the majority of bankruptcies filed today are directly related to credit card abuse. 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 financial institutions continue to become richer at the expense of those who fallen into the debt trap.

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