My Never-ending Affair

My credit card affair started out innocently enough. I was into my second year of working at the New Straits Times Press and as an Advertisement Executive; I needed a credit card to finance certain expenses that come along with the job. My pay at that time was nothing to shout about and though I hold no bad credit to my name, my salary did not meet the minimum requirement to apply for a credit card.

Two years into my first job, my pay was finally sufficient to get me my very first credit card. One fine day, I found myself at a wedding exhibition; a huge client affair if you will so my presence was compulsory. There were many participating wedding booths but there were also plenty of banks offering credit cards for brides to be who needed a little credit repair and assistance during busy wedding moments.

With so many things to buy and book, a credit card is expected to lure these brides-to-be into applying for one. However, instead of the brides-to-be lining up to get a credit card, there was yours truly, happily applying for all the credit cards from all the booths on exhibition there! I purposely applied from every participating bank; convinced my applications were going to be rejected. But slowly, the cards started arriving at my office and before I knew it, I had not one, not two but FIVE credit cards with separate credit limits for me to enjoy!

I was thrilled and excited at owning my very first credit card and I celebrated with a new wardrobe! I even threw in a brand new cell phone for good measure! I did not stop to think about the bills waiting for me at the end of the month and it was only when they arrived that I had the biggest shock of my life. I could not believe I spent so much in just a month but the credit card statements were proof of my reckless spending!

Since then, it has been a tough struggle for me to fix credit card issues, which come with my overspending. As a shopaholic who is constantly with a must-buy list when we go out, it is hard for me not to swipe my card every time I see something pretty!

So now, I have a little box I call my no-no box where I keep all my credit cards at home. I leave all my cards behind when I go shopping except for one. This way, I get to control my shopaholic habits to a certain degree at least. I also try to pay for my purchases using cash instead of my credit cards. My motto when shopping now is "Paper Pays, Plastic Stays"! I don't know how long that motto will last, but at least I'm doing something, albeit a minute measure, about my credit card woes!

-FC Scoreboard points for my first THREE commenters-

GAGAY
LADYJAVA
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