Quote:
Originally Posted by 4X4
Lol. You remind me of when I was 22 and Visa offered to send me a (temporarily) low interest card, that I could shift my (massive) $1500 MC debt on to. The Visa had a limit of $3500. It wasn't long before I was in debt $5000. Damn, that took forever to pay off.
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Yup. Over 20g in debt by the time I was 20. Lived a uber-meager lifestyle for 2 1/2 years to pay it all back. Lessons learned:
1. Credit is for major purchases that are required in life. Ones that waiting/saving can't get you to. In other words, a house (and to a lesser extent, a car).
2. You simply haven't earned that Trip/TV/Luxury if you need to use credit to buy it. Sorry, it's the truth.
3. If you need to use credit to cover your day-to-day expenses, you've got real problems.....seek budgetary help.
4. When paying off the debt (and I HIGHLY suggest a debt-snowball), cut up all the cards and cancel the account(s) as you pay the balance off.
5. If you keep a card - make it a LOW LIMIT and don't carry it with you. Take it with you when you know that it will be necessary (travel, car rental, etc)