Right now I am sitting in Portland International Airport and see that if I sign up for a Visa card I will get a free flight. Pretty good deal eh?

Credit card companies do not make their money from people using their cards; they make their money from people abusing their cards. The convenience of having a card, and not having to repay the money for 30 days is a great reason why we all use credit cards, but paying continuously compounding interest on a cheeseburger you charged a month ago just plain sucks.

The benefit of being young is that you can learn from others’ mistakes, and not get started on the treadmill of credit card debt.

Once you are paying interest on interest, the payments will soon become so great you won’t be able to keep up and the outstanding balance will grow and grow if you only pay the minimum payment due.

I personally don’t have a credit card. I see no need for one since I subscribe to pay-as-you go philosophy.

I do have a debit card that all these credit card companies also issue. A debit card purchase does not incur interest. It is money withdrawn from an account where there is cash ready for use.

I believe the most important part of sound financial spending is to realize how absurd credit cards are.

Borrowing money for a mortgage on a house makes sense because over time real estate prices tend to rise, but what about the $300 you spent at Cherry Creek? Will you be able to sell your clothes for more than you paid? Of course not.

When you are about to use a credit card ask yourself the following question: would I go to a bank and ask to take out a loan for the product/service I am about to buy?

I am betting that for most of the things you use your card for, the answer is no. Try to use cash more. Research shows that when we use cash, we tend to spend less.

Understand that debt is an important part of life, but if misused, it can ruin your life.