Credit cards- Are you a lover or hater?? (Credit Cards in general)

Member Name: mummy2twogirls

Product:	Credit Cards in general
Date:	10/01/09 (76 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Can bail you out in emergencies

Disadvantages: Can get you into so much debt and trouble

I personally haven't had a credit card or for that matter don't ever really want to have one. So some of you might think that I'm being a little skeptical about writing a review on Credit cards when i have yet to have one myself. But i wanted to share my opinions and experiences that close family and friends have suffered with the effects of the dreaded plastic.

We all know what credit cards are and what they are used for, so i won't bore you with that. There is many mixed opinions about credit cards, some people think that they are bad, some think that they are good. Different people have had many different experiences with them so it's hard to judge them fairly.

I personally think that they are a bad thing to have and that they cause way to many problems. I hear many stories of people getting into thousands of pounds worth of debt by having a credit card as they don't think about the long tern effects and having been given a spending limit, will just spend willy nilly until they have nothing left. But then the reality will strike a few months down the line when they realize that they cannot afford to pay back each monthly installment or worse of the interest that banks so cruelly add on.

There are however the majority of people who use use the cards to the best advantage and not be stupid in spending. I know many people who simply have the cards for emergencies, not to go on shopping spree's every day. They work for a living and can afford in the long run, to pay back what they have borrowed.

My mum and dad have never had credit cards and i think the reason why i will never have one stems down to them never having one. Growing up money was tight, but mum and dad where proud that whatever they brought or had was down to the fact that they had worked and had paid for everything them selves- no loans, credit cards etc, just the wages they brought in each week. They never lived in fear of being in debt or owing money to the bank which i think was a great way of teaching us children the value of money. Ok so we never had fancy clothing or the newest games, but as we grew older we saw where mum and dad came from in a respect of what we had was from our own earnings.

I would hate to be in a situation where i had the thought of owing credit card bills to banks and loan companies. I know that thousands of people are in that boat and i know this might sound harsh but why have a credit card in the first place if you knew you where never going to be able to afford to pay it back. Yes in certain circumstances people might have lost jobs etc, in which i totally sympathize with, but we all know that there are people out there who have taken credit cards knowing the risks and knowing that in the long run they could never afford to pay it back.

Are the banks to blame or are the people who have them to blame?? A credit card might sound tempting if the bank makes it seem so, low interest rates, free money transfers, high spending limits etc?? Sounds tempting to me and believe me in the past i have been close to getting one, but my head tells me no, i would go go without than have debts hanging over the top of my head.

Near enough everything that me and my partner own in our house has been brought by us, by our hard earned money and although it's not a lot we are proud that it is ours. The clothing on our children's backs may not be designer but at least we paid for them. I may have stopped working a few years back when our first daughter was born, but i still had savings and still do my bit to contribute towards the living costs of the house. I may only bring in a fraction of what my partner does, but it works and we are both happy with the situation.

I know friends and family that have got into serious debt with cards and even know someone who was close to suicide because he was in so much debt. I personally couldn't handle that myself having all the stress and worry.

This is just my opinion on credit cards and some of you may have different opinions to what i have said, but i am hoping that what i have written does shine some light on to the matter that credit cards aren't all what they seem.

Summary: I personally will never have one