I saw a statistic a while back that said the average American family had a credit card debt of about $15,000.00. You never know about stats. Who did the study and for what purpose are important factors in statistics, and they're often used in spurious ways. Eveyone else has one, so you need one too - right? And damn near everybody has a credit card, and that means they likewise have some debt. Fifteen grand sounds light to me. I figured more, but that's because I had credit card debt of more than twice that much not long ago. Then I got smart and shreaded the cards, and I still don't have one . . . and I'm out of debt to card companies.
Paying off a huge card debt means you've got to deprive yourself of some things. I sat down a tried to figure out what I could do without, then set a goal of paying credit cards at least $1,200 a month. It took three years for me to pay off the debt, and I'm used to the little inconveniences caused by not having a card. And the inconveniences are indeed small. Yeah, I have to walk inside the convenience store now to pay for gas . . . but I need the exercise. And yeah, not having a card means I've got to have some cash in my pocket. I don't carry a checkbook around with me either.
What was I spending all that money on? Well, ebay for one thing, and I don't do that anymore. I limit my trips to the stores around town to those that are absolutely necessary. Am I depriving myself? No, just doing without some things that don't really matter. And I'm getting along much better now financially, and I think I'm better off mentally. I get offers for more credit cards all the time, but that's not going to happen. Me not haveing a card is good for me, but I've noticed that it does cause irritation with people wanting to sell things. "But you can put that on your card." I hear that a lot. I'm also getting used to those dull-eyed stares that say, "But everyone does it? Are you weird of something?" I've been denied room reservations at some motel because I don't have a card number to give them, but who's the loser there? I still found a room that night, but some motel didn't get my business because they needed a number from a card.
Just recently I got an invitation from the White House to join the President in a phone "chat." All you had to do to get involved was sign up, and you did that by giving up credit card information so they could charge your account for a donation. Shit! Even our left leaning chief executive is a credit card hawker. Needless to say, we didn't chat, but I did giggle some. No card, no political contributions. I like that. That's something else I'll never do again - give money to some politician. Government takes enough of my money as it is, so they can call that a contribution if they want to.
Credit cards are a symbol of sickness in our society. When the economy is in a slump, our government's response is generally to get people to spend more money. Lots of cash flow, that is what they want . . . and that's not good for us as individual, especially when money is short. Spending money is too easy as long as that card is in your pocket. My advice to anyone is get rid of the damn thing. Quit playing the game of being the spender . . . and mostly at more expense to you than you realize. Call me weird, if you like. I kind of like the tag, especially when I don't owe a bank or credit card company a single penny. And that's a freedom I really enjoy.
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