A Friendly Reminder

This is just a friendly reminder that using credit cards in no way makes our life better. In fact, it brings a litany of negatives that range from minor inconveniences to utter destruction. This is an opinion I’ve had for more than a decade, and each week I get more convicted in it.

I have two clients that have made significant financial progress in the last few years. By “significant”, I’m referring to life-changing, trajectory-altering, “holy cow I can’t believe that just happened” significant. It’s worth noting both of these families made this progress after ceasing to use credit cards. It wasn’t a coincidence. Getting rid of credit cards is the gateway to finally gaining full clarity, control, and transparency of our finances. It’s an unpopular opinion, but I’ll die on that hill.

Then, something happened. Both of these families recently decided, for different reasons, to start using credit cards again. Nothing major. Just a few purchases here and a few purchases there. They’ll pay it off in a few weeks after xyz happens. Nothing wrong with getting some cash back. It’s “more secure” than using debit. They won’t pay any interest because they have the money to pay it off. You know, all the common tropes. It seems so innocent. No big deal. But in a matter of just a few months, a few things happened:

• They lost clarity in their monthly budget because using a credit card separates the purchase from the payment. Timing gets altered and it’s hard to keep track.

• They lost touch with what they were spending money on, as the credit card payment includes a myriad of different items all lumped together.

• They felt stressed out, anxious, and frustrated. Our meetings were different. They went from excited and optimistic to stressed out and nervous. You could cut the tension with a knife.

• The strong momentum they had previously experienced had slowed to a crawl as they had to re-focus their energies on getting clarity, control, and a zero balance.

These people aren’t dumb. They aren’t irresponsible. They aren’t negligent. In fact, they are some of the brightest and most successful people I know. They are well-known figures in their respective communities. They simply fell for the trap so many of us do. Their decision to start using credit cards again is like the person who hits the gym hard and eats healthy, gets extremely fit, then decides to stop going to the gym and eating healthy because they’re pretty healthy and don’t need to worry about it.

I know this is a controversial opinion, but they deserve better…..and you deserve better.