Credit Card Debt Will Haunt You
Contributed by Julia Reese
How Does Credit Card Debt Originate?
We have all received a letter in the mail stating that you are pre-approved to receive a credit card with an enclosed brochure listing all the credit card's benefits, making it sound like a commodity to have and the possibility of credit card debt is foreign to us. Then we begin to daydream about how the idea of buying now and paying later sounds wonderful.
We can take that vacation we have not been able to take or buy that beautiful designer dress we saw in the store window that attaining before seemed a farfetched notion. We can afford to buy whatever we want whenever we want, even if we do not have the cash on hand to pay for it.
Credit card debt seems like the farthest thought in our minds as we hastily fill out the short application to mail it in. But wait, there is even an option for applying over the phone or internet, expediting the application process. We cannot wait to get our hands on that ticket to freedom -- or so we think.
Is Credit Card Debt the Beginning of the End?
Once the credit card arrives, we already have a list of things we want to do and buy. So off we go, charging away without a care, laughing and enjoying it all the way -- until thirty days later and a statement arrives in the mailbox. We open the statement and eyes widen and jaws drop as we review the charges. I don't remember buying this or this," we think. But, undeniably, there it is in bold black ink staring back at us, as if laughing condescendingly.
We realize that we cannot afford to pay the entire balance. My goodness, there are so many other bills to pay. This is the beginning of credit card debt. We realize that we cannot afford to pay it all, so we will have to start with the minimum balance. It is not too bad. After all, maybe next month we will have more money to pay toward the balance so we can pay it off quickly. Then next month arrives, along with a new credit card statement, and the process begins again.
