My First Credit Card and the Fallacies

By Pinyo, on September 6, 2007

I was reading “Hooked On Credit! 5 Ways The Credit Card Companies Get Our Kids To Sign Up” at The Digerati Life, and the post brought back memories about my first credit card.

Photo by Ian Britton via FreeFoto.com

During my orientation week, Citibank had several booths throughout the campus. Being by myself for the first time, I thought it was a good idea to sign up for a credit card. The process was very simple — just one short application to fill out. Although I did not get a card right away, I was told that it was guaranteed because I was a full-time student.

A few days later, a white unmarked envelope was delivered to my dorm room — viola, my first credit card. Reflecting back I can recall my silly ideas about what that credit card represented:

• Adulthood — “I am now a grown up because I have the card!”
• Financial Independence — “I can buy whatever I wanted and whenever I wanted. I no longer need cash to get them.”
• Coolness — “I can go out with my friends, or on dates, and use my credit card to pay. Cool!”

Obviously, a credit card does not represent any of these. In fact, it is more like the key to financial imprisonment if not used properly. I was lucky to graduate with only $1,200 in credit card debt — things could have been much worse.

After reading The Digerati Life’s post, I was horrified that financial institutions are pitching credit cards to kids. This is akin to giving them the go ahead to drive without proper lessons and without license — it is suicidal. Like driving, credit card should be accessible to kid after they are taught about financial responsibility and the potential dangers on financial roadways.

This article was featured in:

• The Carnival of Life, Happiness & Meaning #17 hosted by Life Insurance Lowdown.
• The Carnival of Money, Growth, and Happiness #17 hosted by Credit Card Lowdown.

Read more about

Get free updates

    via Twitter
    via Facebook
    via RSS or Email

Share this article

• 
• 
• 
• 
• Share

Pinyo is the brain behind Moolanomy personal finance blog and a few other web sites. If you like this article, please subscribe for free daily email updates.

All posts by Pinyo

Please share your comment:

Comment Rules: Constructive criticism is welcomed. Please use your PERSONAL name or initials and not your business name or URL, as the latter comes off like spam and I'll most likely delete your comment. Have fun and thanks for adding to the conversation! Here's our comment policy and guidelines.

2 blogs that link to this article:

If your trackback does not show in 24 hours, please resend to this trackback URI.

1. Life Insurance Lowdown » Blog Archive » Carnival of Life, Happiness & Meaning #17
2. Carnival of Money, Growth and Happiness #17 | Credit Card Lowdown