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Mar

22

Why I Don’t Like Credit Cards





There’s always a lot of talk in the personal finance blogosphere about credit cards. Some people hate credit cards, other people think they’re a handy tool. Personally, I abhor credit cards. It’s not the piece of plastic I hate… it’s not even because I don’t like how they allowed me to dig myself into debt for so long. I loathe credit cards because they make me feel like prey.

I feel like I am taken advantage of every time I use a credit card. Every time I see an ad for a card, every time I got an offer in the mail (I have since opted out), I feel just a little more disgust for the credit card companies. The fact that there are ten paragraphs on the back of every offer in teeny print is enough for me to hate them. They’re liars. They cleverly and intentionally manipulate us into believing they’re a great deal.

The credit card companies have a clever way of making you feel like you’re successful by getting another card. But after I had 11, I was getting offers all the time and every one felt like a little tickler reminding me that “you have so much debt, and are such a good customer, now everyone wants to lend to you!” Unfortunately, being a good credit card customer means that you are enslaved to these beasts that will never treat you fairly.

In fact, the best thing you can do for a credit card company is buy thousands of dollars of stuff and then pay the minimum payments for all time. Then the comapny has a customer for life! I think it’s nasty and awful that this is what they hope you become - their victim. Even when I was in debt and completely lost, I still felt dirty every time I opened up another card. Whenever an interest rate was jacked up, or I got another offer in the mail, I felt only worse about myself.

When using credit cards, I personally felt out of control. I felt like I had all the money in the world in my name, and could somehow not manage to just stop spending. The credit cards were constantly telling me that I could have anything I wanted, and I believed them. I know that using credit cards will be a different experience for every person - Trent at the Simple Dollar brilliantly called them “a very dangerous power tool.” Oh, how I agree.

While my intent is not to tell you that credit cards are evil, I will tell you that they can get you into a load of trouble. My personal debt story is proof of that, as are the countless other stories out there. This is a topic I’m passionate about because credit cards totally ruined my finances for years. In the end, credit cards make me feel taken advantage of, and I encourage you to stay away from them as much as humanly possible so that you don’t become their next victim.

Ana at DebtFREE-Revolution has blogged extensively on this subject (why I originally started reading her blog ;) ):

Other bloggers weigh in with posts I loved (even if some I didn’t agree with):

I won’t be responding to comments until Monday when I return from my trip to the river with Sean! Happy Saturday:D

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Filed Under Random Tips, Tricks, and Advice, money and finance 

Comments

One Response to “Why I Don’t Like Credit Cards”

  1. GL on March 22nd, 2008 9:22 pm

    That’s an interesting point - I’ve never heard this particular argument before. :)
    Personally, I have a rather unique relationship with credit cards. I’m not from around here, so it took me a couple of years to fully understand the concept of credit cards (they don’t have them back home lol) and I got my first one at a somewhat late age of 20 (a whopping 18 months ago haha). I have a strict financial discipline, and since I had been using my debit card for ll the payments before I got my first credit card, I just switched all my bills and usual expenses to the credit card, without changing my spending habits in any way.

    I know exactly what you’re talking about, though - the sense of financial invi8ncibility that credit card companies like to instill in our peers… In my opinion, as long as you don’t lose your head and pay off your bill on time, credit cards are very convenient - there’s no overdraw like with debit cards, there’s a certain degree of protection if your purchase is broken or stolen, and then there are the reward points. :] To sum this up, I think a credit card is just a tool, and it’s up to us how we use it - just like it is with guns, books or cars.

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