Credit Tips: Credit Card Personal Story

Posted On: August 24, 2006

Author: TMaG82
Posted: Thu Aug 24, 2006 10:36 pm
Post subject: Encouragement for those that need it

I’m a new user to the boards, but I’ll share my personal story. I’m now 24, got into the credit card game at 18, my first year of college. Got caught up in the appeal of credit cards, before I knew it I had a balance of almost 5k on the cards. Paid it off after a matter of months, then a few years later found myself in credit debt once again. I ended up paying almost everything on time, albeit the minimum balance on a lot. A few late payments but mostly everything on time. Never checked my credit score during this time but I figure it couldn’t be all that great. Fast forward to this year and in Feb received a pre-approved application for an AmEx Gold rewards. Figured I’d give it a shot and I figured it would come back ok since they want to make money off that 2nd year account fee. Ended up approved for the card. Checked my credit score afterwards and was at around 650. Took all the money I had saved up over the last year of working a part time job and eliminated everything I owed. Even a store card. I was sick of paying interest fees. Since March I’ve been using my AmEx card exclusively and paying everything on top. I’ve probably charged in excess of 10K on the card since then (nothing all that much but for a student it’s enough). On a whim I decided since I was being good I would try my hand at the AmEx Clear. I figured my credit score was around 670 or so, so I wasn’t getting my hopes up. And being a student with no real earning source I was even less hopeful. Submitted the application online and comes up approved and with a CL of $10k. I’m one happy person.

To make a long story short, for those with aspirations of some great card that they want or of just finding a way to resist the temptation to buy everything when you know in the back of your head that you can’t afford it, it’s a struggle. You’ll fight the inner demon inside and if you’re in the hole it’s a long way to the top. But keep at it. Say to yourself that you won’t pay high interest charges again. Instead of paying the minimum and seeing that you’re only knocking off $8 a month of your balance, stash some cash away to get rid of it for good. I don’t consider myself to be a wise person at all, I’m sure this story has been told countless times before. I do consider myself a more mature person and no longer the teenager who doesn’t appreciate the value of a dollar earned. Now before I pull out the credit card I always find myself asking ‘Do I really need this?’ even at times when it’s paying for a necessity such as groceries or gas.

I hope this story helps/encourages those out there.

Author: Messiah
Posted: Fri Aug 25, 2006 2:27 pm
Post subject: Credit Card Personal Story

Nice post.

Author: Board Monitor
Posted: Fri Aug 25, 2006 5:38 pm
Post subject: Credit Card Personal Story

Thanks for sharing!
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