Credit cards: the root of all evil?

When I was growing up my parents were very careful about money, they taught me that I should live within my means, but that didn’t mean credit wasn’t sometimes part of the deal. However at 17 I got in to a relationship where I was taken advantage of in many ways, one way was he took out contracts and credit in my name and in just a couple of months managed to run up, upwards of £20,000 of debt all in my name.

So yes I guess credit cards can be evil – but that’s when they are used in the wrong way; when used correctly they are very much a tool that can help you out.

While most of the debt was written off thanks to a hard working friend and crime numbers, it still took a huge hit on my credit rating; in fact it was so bad I couldn’t even open a current account and had to use a cash account which only allowed money to be withdrawn from a branch cash point.

So of course I had to rebuild my credit rating and after waiting a couple of years – I took out a high interest “credit builder” credit card – these aren’t the sort of cards you want to buy on and not repay the same month as you are looking at just under 30% APR but they are great for showing you can be trusted with credit and slowly but surely they helped me rebuild mine to a point where I could take out a contract phone again and get a current account.

As well as helping build your credit score they also have other uses as long as they are used correctly; take shopping online, if I can’t pay by PayPal then I look to use my credit card as they often give you more security than your regular debit card.

They are fantastic to have on hand in emergency situations, as you never know what might go wrong and when. Myself and Ash always try and have an emergency fund in the bank, but there have been times when disasters have happened in threes and the emergency fund has run dry before we’ve been able to sort everything out so reaching for the credit card has helped us through to the next lot of wages hit the bank.

So no credit cards aren’t the root of all evil, you just have to be savvy in how you use one, as used correctly they can have a good impact.

What do you think about credit cards, do you think they can be helpful?

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