As the holiday season swirls around me, I watch many people
using their credit cards to buy Christmas gifts. Many of them can afford these
gifts and many can’t but they insist on buying gifts for all of their family
members. I’ve heard some of them say how they have maxed out their credit
cards! Even though people want to buy everything for their family, there isn’t
the need to go into debt for this. This doesn’t mean that they love the person
more or less. It just means they have more stuff! I heard one lady say that she
pays a lot in interest!
I see people rushing to buy things on sale and since they
can’t afford it, they put it all on their credit cards. When the bill comes,
they pay the minimum amount each month and it may take months or years to pay
off their bill. The interest they pay on the amount they owe is outrageous and
they are not really saving money by buying things on sale. In fact, they may be
paying a lot more than if they would have waited and bought it at regular price
when they could afford it.
This made me think about how we teach our students about
credit cards and economics. I don’t know why they call it paying “interest!”
Interest to me is associated with savings and checking accounts or other
accounts where I earn money. Interest has a positive connotation that means I
get more money into my account.
When I use my credit card and I don’t pay it off each month,
I am charged interest. Instead this should be called a penalty. I lose money
this way. When I show my students that by using a charge card, I am actually
borrowing money and when I borrow, I may have to pay the initial amount back
plus more if I don’t pay it all back by a certain time. If I buy something for
$20 on credit, I may end up paying $22 back for it if I use my credit card.
This means I’m losing money! To me, this is not interest but a penalty.
Maybe if we stop labeling the loss on credit cards as
interest and call it what it is – a penalty, maybe people will not be so
readily willing to use credit cards for more than they can afford.
Maybe our economy wouldn’t be in the fix it is in if people
would only buy what they could afford.
Well, maybe our country wouldn’t be in the fix it is in if
the country didn’t spend more than it could afford.
Do you use a credit card? Do you max it out or pay it off
each month? Please share.
