Are Credit Cards Addictive?

Posted On: May 24, 2006

Author: Chazmanian
Posted: Fri Feb 24, 2006 1:40 am
Post subject: Credit Card Addiction

Is there such a thing as Credit card addiction? I find myself fighting the urges to apply madly for every card I can get…I love waiting for that Derned envelope to come in the mailbox! I race home from work the day after I’ve applied hoping for that nice thick envelope with that nice hard unbendable section….Jeeze that was bad. I love setting up online pay! I love the Thank you point network! I’ll spend 50 bucks at Wal-mart on my card even though I have the cash in my wallet….Just so I can send in a payment? I want a wallet chock full o’ cards to make me feel strong? and I’m a big guy with a rough and tumble job as I manage a large outbound callcenter and have the misfortune of having to mistreat my drugged up unsavory outbound telemarketing crew?……But I feel addicted, I love the joy of an approval! I really like the envelope and will open it very slowly like Charlie opening his candy bar in the Wonka book. I’ll read over every little detail and find dumb excuses to call the customer service number? Waiting on the Ciscover card is really exciting and for some wierd reason I hope it takes a long time so I can rush home every day to open my mailbox and feel around for my “Golden Ticket”…. In the past 2 months I have gotten:

Citi-simplicity $2600 limit. Nice card 0% on everything til next year.
Citi-Premier pass $6000 base limit but can go over so long as I pay the overage the next month…they call that no preset limit?
BOA platinum $4600 limit 0% BT’s….Waiting for it in the mail and was approved instantly online.(Comes with some little mini-card that sposed to go on your keychain?) I lose my keys everyday…I cannot imagine losing my keys and a credit card daily….
Providian Pay-Pal Visa $1000 limit???? still cannot wait to get it in the derned mailbox and open er’ up slow and easy!

Waiting on the discover folks. And loving it. so much in fact that I have called them every day for the past 4 days.

Am I ill? Are there others like me? I pay my stuff off really fast, have a nice wife a cool new toyota 4×4 and a decent paying job. But I sure do get a rush, or better yet a high from applying for these cards and awaiting the results!….Sorry to ramble. Chuck.

Chazmanian wrote:
Is there such a thing as Credit card addiction? I find myself fighting the urges to apply madly for every card I can get…I love waiting for that Derned envelope to come in the mailbox! I race home from work the day after I’ve applied hoping for that nice thick envelope with that nice hard unbendable section….Jeeze that was bad. I love setting up online pay! I love the Thank you point network! I’ll spend 50 bucks at Wal-mart on my card even though I have the cash in my wallet….Just so I can send in a payment? I want a wallet chock full o’ cards to make me feel strong? and I’m a big guy with a rough and tumble job as I manage a large outbound callcenter and have the misfortune of having to mistreat my drugged up unsavory outbound telemarketing crew?……But I feel addicted, I love the joy of an approval! I really like the envelope and will open it very slowly like Charlie opening his candy bar in the Wonka book. I’ll read over every little detail and find dumb excuses to call the customer service number? Waiting on the Ciscover card is really exciting and for some wierd reason I hope it takes a long time so I can rush home every day to open my mailbox and feel around for my “Golden Ticket”…. In the past 2 months I have gotten:

Citi-simplicity $2600 limit. Nice card 0% on everything til next year.
Citi-Premier pass $6000 base limit but can go over so long as I pay the overage the next month…they call that no preset limit?
BOA platinum $4600 limit 0% BT’s….Waiting for it in the mail and was approved instantly online. (Comes with some little mini-card that sposed to go on your keychain?) I lose my keys everyday…I cannot imagine losing my keys and a credit card daily….
Providian Pay-Pal Visa $1000 limit???? still cannot wait to get it in the derned mailbox and open er’ up slow and easy!

Waiting on the discover folks. And loving it. so much in fact that I have called them every day for the past 4 days.

Am I ill? Are there others like me? I pay my stuff off really fast, have a nice wife a cool new toyota 4×4 and a decent paying job. But I sure do get a rush, or better yet a high from applying for these cards and awaiting the results!….Sorry to ramble. Chuck.

WHAT IS THIS CASH STUFF?????

Does that stuff have any rewards??????

Do you have loss protection??????

Chazmanian, you and mouse may have credit card addiction.

I probably have a touch of credit card addiction as well. I keep my eye out for better CC offers — better rewards, preferably cash back. I probably have more CC than I should have, but I don’t carry them all with me. I think I have only three on me now — my primary card, a backup card if the fraud prevention algorithm of the former denies a transaction, and a card with better rewards at restaurants. I only carry enough cash for small transactions. I do get a special tingle when I see the statement arrive in the mail. Hot dog! I say, have an opportunity to reconcile my statement with Quicken.

Requesting too many CC in a period of time can lower your FICO score and put you at risk of being denied credit or a loan, or having your insurance premiums skyrocket (if your state allows insurance companies use FICO scores to set premiums).

Then again, I do try to resist buying things for the sake of charging them. I endeavor to treat CC as if they were cash. For me, the CC is just a way to buy things I need w/o needing to carry a wad of greenbacks with me. As mouse would point out, CC has features that cash doesn’t, but those are just a bonus for me.

I found this quite funny. My wife and I decided a few months ago that I am a credit card addict. I thought I was alone in the world until I found this board last October. I proudly announced to her that night that I am not alone in the world. She thought that was hilarious and always laughs when i tell her I’m checking in with my “friends.”

I get the same rush from approvals and from the envelope in the mail. I would apply for a lot more but I really don’t need them and I don’t want too many inquiries a year. A couple of months ago I got an offer for the Citi Diamond Preferred card and it was such a great offer I applied that night even though I had absolutely no need for it (I had to promise not to apply for any more cards for a year since it was my second card in four months). I used it a couple of times to get my 10,000 bonus points and now it sits in my wallet simply because it looks so dang cool. I am doing a BT with my Dividend card right now and I have the money in savings. When the year at 0% is up on that I’ll pay it off, reallocate most of the limit to my Diamond card (which had a horrible initial limit) and do another BT for another year at 0%. I love it. I admit I’m wierd but I’m making money and it is fun so I don’t really care.