I own a credit card, two to be exact. My first credit card, Metrobank, was given to me by my authoritative father as a gift in my middle college years. Since I'm the type who always had a hard time asking him for some money for mere basic things like clothes, shoes and books that I couldn't afford in my earlier academic years, I constantly voiced out my detailed needs to my mother. My mother, out of irritation, wanted me to tell him directly. But I just can't. Hence, one day out of the blue, he gave me one lengthy financial lecture and gave me my first credit card.
Seeing my first credit card, I should've jumped for joy and started to swipe like crazy. But after that lecture, I only saw it as tempting plastic you carry around with you that weighs like a chunk of responsibility. My father, out of his confidence in me (since I'm not really a shopper, and my expenses are limited to basic retail interests only), told me to use it for whatever it is that I need and want within reason. In that way, I wouldn't have a burden asking him for something.
I let the first month pass and didn't use my activated card just yet. I wanted my first purchase to be memorable, but my dad called up and insisted I try it out to see if it already works. At that time, I dragged Vanessa So with me to Glorietta and decided to get a pair of pants in Giordano, since it was on Sale. I swiped and got my first purchase ever. But my relationship with credit cards up to now hasn't changed since day 1.
Now that I manage two credit cards on my own I still don't swipe like crazy. I only use credit cards for things that I know I could afford to pay on the next due date. Every time I swipe my credit card there's this mental calculation in my head to see if I have already reached my limit. Naturally I'm only human, I have made a couple of unwanted mistakes in "overswiping" and once I've realized that, I leave my credit card at home, set aside estimated amount of money to pay for next due date (which is the painful part), and start spending with cash. And since I don't withdraw or carry much cash with me, I tend find reasons not to spend at all.
I know the feeling of power, convenience and gratification credit cards impose on us. It makes us instantly forget that we're actually paying for something until the bill arrives. It even serves as a an accounting buddy especially if you're a shopper, since all transactions are detailed to give you the knowledge of where your "money" went. It's convenient to carry just one plastic than lots of cash. It's a blissful financial tool, until you get consumed and blinded by it.
I must give credit to my father for imposing a subtle financial schooling in me and also give credit to myself for generally being a non-shopper and practically a bore for sticking to the "rules. But unfortunately not all people are thoroughly educated on the power of credit cards. Most people find out the hard lessons when they find themselves in credit debt. Credit cards can be seen as a salvation, a positive power and friend when used wisely. By wisely means that Credit Cards are not there to be used freely if there are no available resources to pay for the balances. Credit cards do not extend and increase financial resources that aren't there in the first place. Credit cards at the end should always make the person more financially empowered and not financially muddled
Nowadays, one would easily find himself being offered by Banks issuing Credit Cards as easy as 123. Yes, they still do background investigations, but with the looming global financial crisis, one would hardly think it's enough. Not all, who have cards are responsible, and even some who have made mistakes cannot afford to rise up above their financial turmoil. Add collective individuals and what you have is a form of debt ridden society and financial crisis that have reached global. The attitude we have on our credit cards seem very personal and paltry, but it's a representation on how we view financial accountability and responsibility.
Credit cards for me should always be a form of a friend or a convenience for those who could "AFFORD TO MANAGE ONE." If they had the credit card under blinded or wrong pretenses, then it's a downward relationship from then on. So now whenever I see or know someone who got his or her first credit card ever with that ever glazed look, I do hope that beyond that excitement shelters an ounce of knowledge, sense of responsibility and awareness of having that powerful plastic in his or her life.
PS. It's okay to whine when you see the bill, more of like a wakeup call to your responsibility. But what matters is being able to put it to rest.
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