When I was younger I received my first credit card. I promised myself I'd never charge more than I could afford to repay in a month. After making my first purchase with the card, I was enthralled by the ability to hand a small piece of plastic to a cashier and walk out of the store with cool stuff. My promise forgotten, I splurged on bigger and better stuff until I maxed out the card. When the bills came, I happily paid the minimum, not concerning myself with things like interest rates and finance charges.
Well, not content with one card I went out and got more credit cards. I'd fill out every credit card offer that came in the mail, still not concerning myself with interest rates and finance charges. One day I sat down and figured out how much money I owed to my credit cards. When I was done, I went through my wallet and cut every single one of them up.
When the offers came in, I started to compare credit cards looking for better deals. When I would find a low interest credit card, I would pick the card or cards that were hurting me for the highest interest rate and dump their balances onto the lower rate card. I did a lot of juggling, but finally managed to get myself on track and save a boatload of money in finance charges at the same time.
It's taken me six years to undo the damage I did in three - let that be a warning to everyone who isn't keeping their spending habits in check! But at least I'm almost at the finish line.
