Debt.

Credit cards are evil. They are truly reprehensible little rectangular pieces of plastic. They are also an incredible convenience, which only makes them more evil. They are there to tempt you to indulge in high-priced goods you do not need but feel you do because your card makes it possible for you to obtain it. They tempt you to purchase that really cool item that you cannot actually afford, but feel you can because you are armed with a method of acquiring it now and dealing with paying it off later. In a society that revolves around instant gratification so heavily, simply owning a credit card is in itself for most people a true test of self-discipline. It can be so tempting to just purchase that nice item now for the simple pleasure of taking it home and enjoying it, knowing you won't have to worry about paying for it for awhile to come. But that time always comes, eventually, and like they say, payback is a bitch. ...Especially when you find you have so little to pay back with. I do not ever want to allow that to happen to me. I do not want to run up huge debts on my credit cards while maintaining a "screw tomorrow" attitude, which is what so many young people these days unfortunately seem to do. And they wonder, then, why they are forced to drop out of school and work three jobs just to manage their monthly credit card fees. Ugh. I would rather simply not be able to afford something now and thus simply not have it than place the charges on a credit card so I can have it now but then struggle with bills for months to come. My brother already ruined his credit by using credit cards to purchase commodities he couldn't even afford, and thus ended up defaulting on his monthly bills. I have never made a late credit card payment in my life, and I see no reason to ever get lazy with that, either. I don't wish to journey down the same road as him. I just recently paid off the remaining $280 balance on my Best Buy card (for my camera I purchased in August) in order to avoid being slapped with deferred finance charges. It's certainly nice to know I won't have to worry about that financial obligation anymore. I do not relish the thought of spending my life being a prisoner to debt due to my own carelessness.

Credit cards are useful, yes. They can be life-savers in emergencies. I'm highly considering making a vow to use one of my credit cards only if it's an emergency; a situation that places my survival or well-being at stake. The bottom line is that credit cards, like many things, are dangerously easy to abuse. It's good to have a couple, but most of the time, it's best to leave them buried deep in my wallet for truly desperate times. I suppose I have bothered to write this out for my own benefit more than anyone's else's, as everyone deals with a different financial situation. If I ever make the mistake of unnecessarily running up mountains of credit card debt in the future for luxurious items I don't need, at least I can look back upon this entry and remember that I used to be smart.