Credit Cards

 

Financial Peace University is the latest class that I attended in Converge which is scheduled every Wednesday evening at church.

One of the topics last night was about credit cards.

Unlike some people who applied for credit cards, I never applied for one. I just received them through mail. The first credit card that I received was when I was still working, and I never used it, thinking that if I used it, I had to pay the interest. Eventually, I cancelled it.

I received my second credit card two months before I retired. My daughter encouraged me to use it, saying that in order not to incur interest, I have to pay the bill in full on or before due date. So, I used it out of curiosity. And true enough, I did not pay any interest because I always paid the monthly statements in full. However, after a year, I received the monthly statement that included an amount that is indicated as annual fee. My daughter advised me to request the credit card company to waive the annual fee, which I did, and the credit card company granted my request.

In the succeeding years, I was able to accumulate a total of six credit cards, not counting a new one which I received just this month. What am I going to do with all these credit cards? So, I decided to just keep two and cancel the four. However, the credit card companies would not cancel them, they even sent me renewal cards, and increased my credit limit. Every time these companies charge annual fees, I request to waive them, and they have always approved my request. Today, I have seven credit cards, but I use only two. Eventually, I think the five credit card companies will grant my request to cancel them when they see that I don't use them.

I never had problems about credit cards, maybe because I always monitor my expenses, making sure that I purchase only the things that I need. What’s more, I get rewards points for their use, and exchange them for perks like gift checks, or pay for purchases and watch movies using the rewards points.

It’s true that ownership of credit cards emboldens people to purchase things on impulse. And if one cannot discipline himself, he will be buried in debts. It really requires discipline and discretion if one has credit cards.