What You Don't Know Can Hurt You

Many people end up in debt early on in life and I believe it is because they don't quite understand how credit cards and interest rates work.  I would advice them to read the fine print on their credit card disclosure and guide to benefits.  It is important to get into the habit of reading contracts, disclosures and benefit statements to understand how you can evade catastrophe as well as to understand how to protect yourself.  Not all the print is negative your benefits guide will list price, purchase, extended and return protection all good tools that will benefit you.

I once met a young lady who applied to as many department credit cards as she could to get the free gifts that were used to lure her in.  She also loved the concept of buy now and pay later.  Years later I found out she got together with a guy not that she really wanted to but she felt trapped by the enormous amount of debt she had accrued on all her credit cards.  I still don't think she quite understood how much debt she actually had amassed.  A $20,000 charge on your credit card can actually mean you will owe $40k or more depending on the APR and if you only make minimum payments.

Credit cards with high interest rates are dangerous and are best to stay away from.  You don't want to give a company or another person so much power or control over your well being. There are kind people out there but some people will take advantage of you and your situation.  You also want to be able to manage the budget in your home and pass healthy financial habits to your children.

Having a credit card is a big responsibility and for those that live on a tight budget it seems to cause them more harm than good that is why informing oneself is the best way to go.  There are cases where authorized users have been reported to credit agencies for not paying off the balance on a deceased family members credit card.

With a tough economic environment especially for young adults it seems that the American Dream has changed it is no longer to own a home but to be debt free.  Inform yourself and please learn the right way to use a credit card to be financially free and live the new American Dream.