CREDIT CARD CHAOS

Can you believe the STAGGERING billions of dollars, euros, francs, yuans and other currencies that represent the worldwide credit card debt? Can you picture what a billion of anything looks like?

Maybe we can better understand what this represents if we picture the average college graduate card debt between $15,000 and $20,000 in addition to other obligations. Whew!

In my younger years the credit card had not been invented so that meant that people paid cash or they didn't buy.
Simple enough.

In my home there were two exceptions to cash payments. One was called the lay-away-plan which allowed you to select an item(s), put down a small deposit and then make periodic payments until that happy day when PAID IN FULL was stamped on your agreement. My mother used this plan to buy
Christmas gifts.

The second exception to cash was the “grocer's ledger book” which allowed you to buy food items and settle the bill on payday. The grocer's book was a credit risk for the grocer but I know that none of them suffered heavy losses, if any.

Why am I telling you this? Because, dear readers, many of you are up to your collective necks in card debt. You have a number of cards and each month you pay the minimum amount on the largest debt, thus adding more debt.

You can do better than that. Tomorrow morning get in front of your full-length mirror and pledge to get out of debt as quickly as possible. You can do it. You had the fortitude to get through school and into the work world, and you can use that same courage to be debt free. Every time you get down to a zero balance on a card CUT THAT CARD INTO SMALL PIECES AND TOSS IT. Get down to one card and keep it there.

It is a matter of trust. The grocer trusted his customers and they didn't fail him. You can trust yourself to get free from this collar of debt.

More, later

P.S. I know I sound “preachy” today but it needed to be said.