Everyone Needs a Credit Card

Sue: You can't live without a credit card in today's world.

Swami: Why not?

Sue: Hotels, rental cars, all of these things require a credit card. You can't borrow money at all without a good credit score. It's impossible to live now a days without good credit.

Swami: Hmm, that's interesting. May I make a clarification? We're using the word credit to mean two different things.

First, credit means borrowed money. You buy stuff (rent a car, book a hotel room, etc.) with Visa's money. Visa sends you a bill. And you pay Visa back.

In the second sense, credit means any transaction that goes through Visa's computers. This meaning is what the rental car and hotel companies use. They don't care if the money comes from Visa or your bank account. They run the transaction through Visa's computer.

Life in today's world does require transactions that run through Visa's computer. Life does not require that you borrow money. Do you see the difference?

Sue: Well, isn't that splitting hairs?

Swami: Yes. And you hid behind that hair justifying a decision made in selfishness. You want all of the extra stuff bought with somebody else's money. Our sin nature justifies those actions because everyone needs to borrow money. Oops - I mean everyone needs a credit card.

Those two statements aren't interchangeable, are they? Yet that is precisely the spirit behind it. We mean borrow money when we say credit card.

Sue: Quit being so self righteous. Some of us simply can't get ahead.

Swami: Sorry, my delivery isn't the best. I purposefully switched to the pronouns we and our. I have the same problem. "Hi, my name is Swami, and I'm addicted to stuff."

I have been in that place - beaten down, hopeless, staring at a chasm of financial ruin with nothing but sharp rocks at the bottom. It stinks. I hated that place. Bad things happened there. Like every other 12 step program in the world, the first step was wanting to change.

So I split that hair. I use a debit card for hotels, car rentals, etc. No more borrowed money. I have not mailed payments to Visa for 2 years. I mailed my last check on my last debt to anyone at all a measly 4 months ago. And that money now goes directly into my bank account - accumulating. My checking account balance goes up every month! Do you know how exhilarating that is?

It can be done. You can kick the debt habit. Take the first step...