Having A Visa Credit Card

I have had a Visa credit card for years. It's always come in handy, and sometimes I don't know what I'd do without it!

The fact is, these days most of us have credit cards. It often seems that we can't live without these nifty, little cards. They allow us to buy those things that we shouldn't really be looking at since we can't afford them, but for some reason we get them anyway. It's a classic human flaw. In the world of charging, the Visa credit card is certainly the leader of the pack. There is an obvious reason for this. Every business accepts them. How can you argue with that? It also makes it heaps easier to buy things online, a huge plus for the millions of people now choosing to buy products over the Internet.

I applied for a Visa credit card right after high school. I thought to myself, okay I have a job, therefore I can have a charge card. Little did I know. The Visa credit card, like any other can work like a catch 22. You can use them to purchase things you need or don't need, but then the interest rates are going to kill you. It's almost unavoidable. Unless you're one of those few who pay off their credit cards every month, you know the repercussions. Although this is the case when we dive into the world of credit cards and charging for stuff we don't really need, we never seem to learn our lesson, despite suffering the consequences!

The allure of credit cards comes with the charge limit they offer. Let's say you get your first Visa credit card, and your limit is two grand. Great, that's two thousand dollars you have at your fingertips for purchases, right? Well, not exactly. Even though we can taste that new TV or CD player, we should refrain from jumping the gun, unless we have the funds rolling in next month. As a former college student, I saw many delusional students out on their own for the first time with their Visa credit cards. They see something they want but can't afford, no worries! Throw it on the credit card. Wow, will this add up! It's the “buy it now and worry about it later” mentality. You'd be amazed at how much you'll have spent after four years. Another common screw up is the happy hour scene that college folk love so dearly. This can do horrible things to the credit card balance. Unfortunately this will likely go unnoticed until graduation or the next billing statement. Then the reality sets in.

Visa credit cards can work as a wonderful tool in our money stressed lives. We need a little help sometimes, so we resort to the card. This is why many of us get them. While we all want the option of paying with a credit card, we must proceed with caution. These helpful, little plastic wonders can get us in a bind if we're not careful. The best way is to have a credit card for emergencies only, and stick with a low limit. My husband and I now have a $1000 limit on our credit card, which we brought down from the $6000 limit we had a few years ago. We also try and pay it off once a month, or at least keep the balance as low as possible. That way we can use it when we really need to.