It's over baby!

You know those people that are always negative and drag you down? Sometimes things are like that too. One of my "friends" has been like that for a little over a decade. At first it seemed like a good relationship. There were rewards and shiny things. I was surprised how quickly that thrill left. Now I feel exhausted after having to deal with them, I can't stand them. I figured out that I AM TIRED OF IT!! 

We finally got the courage and started to distance ourselves from them a few years ago. We still hear from them occasionally and they are still the same: negative, taking, and cold. In a few weeks Kristen and I will finally, after so many years, get to say “We're done Visa, it's over!”. No more of them taking from us, no more dealing with the stress of being a slave to that lender (Proverbs 22:7). This breakup is long overdue.

Don't mess around with credit cards. As smart as you are (hello, you're reading this blog) you're not smarter than the multi- billion dollar credit card industry. Why would they promote a product that would allow you to cheat their system? They wouldn't. It wouldn't make fiscal sense for them. They look shiny and neat and easy to use when in fact they are not user friendly at all! Here's what I mean.

Many years ago, Indian youths would go away in solitude to prepare for manhood. One such youth hiked into a beautiful valley. There he fasted, and on the third day he decided to test himself against the mountain. He put on his buffalo-hide shirt, threw his blanket over his shoulders, and set off to climb the peak.

When he reached the top, he could see forever, and his heart swelled with joy. Then he heard a rustle at his feet. Looking down, he saw a snake. Before he could move, the snake spoke: “I am about to die. It is too cold for me up here, and I am freezing. There is no food, and I am starving. Put me under your shirt and take me down to the valley.”

“Oh, no,” said the youth. “I know your kind. You are a rattlesnake. If I pick you up, you will bite me, and I will die.”

“Not so,” said the snake. “I will treat you differently. If you do this for me, you will be special. I will not harm you.”

The youth withstood for a while, but this was a very persuasive snake with beautiful markings. At last the youth tucked it under his shirt and carried it down to the valley. There he laid it gently on the grass. Suddenly, the snake coiled, rattled, and struck, biting him on the leg. 

“But you promised—” cried the youth. 

“You knew what I was when you picked me up,” said the snake as it slithered away.

A credit card is not your friend! A credit card is not your emergency fund! A credit card is not good for building credit! The card will bite you if you use it and you will be bitten over and over again. I have several friends that say they use the card and pay it off every month, then they always seem to add the caveat "but we got a little carried away the past few months". Now they owe the money and interest on top of it. 

Interest yields neither to entreaties, demands, or orders; and whenever you get in its way or cross its course or fail to meet its demands, it crushes you. (J. Reuben Clark in Conference Report, Apr., 1938, p. 103). 

Friends, it is not a good plan to play with venomous snakes. It is also not a good financial plan to play with credit cards, they will bite you!