It has been about 2 years since I cut up my credit cards to avoid going further into any credit card debt. It was a relatively easy thing to do since I’m not a shopaholic and it simply made it so I wouldn’t use them just because I could. That was probably the biggest issue I had with them. It was part of course I took that was offered by my boss at the time. I highly recommend it, actually. Financial Peace University by Dave Ramsey. The hardest part is actually implementing and following through with the basic steps he asks you to take. The knowledge I’ve gained for it has been invaluable, however!

It hasn’t been until lately that I’d give anything to have one of those Chase credit cards, purely for “emergencies”. When your husband blows your paychecks on going out and drinking and gets your card impounded, there’s no better reason to have one around to help out. It’s so frustrating not being able to take care of things that need to be taken care of because we have no money available. My idea of splurging these days is getting some fast food for myself for lunch. The most recent material thing I bought were two pair of jeans for $30 simply because my other jeans had holes in them. It was time for some jeans.

However, I have to be wary of credit cards in general because they may start out for “emergencies only” but they often turn slowly into your regular form of payment. It helps to read over credit card reviews to really understand what you might be getting into as far as fees, limits, what happens if you default or go over your limit, etc. There are new laws that have been put in place to help consumers fight back against credit card companies, but you still have to be the responsible consumer, do your research and read the fine print. The only possible way to use a credit card responsibly is paying it off in full EVERY MONTH. There’s no other way.