Great Grandson No.5, born last week, is Shayley Oliver. Isn’t that a name of Irish derivation?
My experience with credit cards dates back to the early 1960’s. Your Mom and I were living in Plymouth and I was commuting daily to Milwaukee (Marquette University). I filled my two toned green, stick shift, strait 6 cylinder Rambler with gas several times a week paying $.25 per gallon of gas. I was spending $50-$100 a month for gas. I used Clark gas at the time. Low cost. High octane. Good quality. Gas stations were one of the first to issue credit cards meaning you didn’t have to carry cash. I applied to Clark Oil Company for my first credit card. I was turned down. They said I didn’t have an established credit rating. I didn’t have a job (because I was going to school). I guess I was high risk. I could get a credit card through Clark Oil if Mom’s folks (Nana and Grandpa) would guarantee monthly payments. Nana and Grandpa said “no” (they were very nice about it, but essentially it was a problem your Mom and I would have to solve). I remember getting pi–ed off at Clark for not recognizing a good future customer. So I showed them. I started buying gas at the local Mobil gas station. I still had to pay cash. The feeling I got never left me. I didn’t like being jerked around like a second class citizen.
From then on, your Mom and I applied sparingly for credit cards and used them very carefully. We never paid interest on an unpaid balance. Ever! I remember talking to Nana during the later stages of her life and found out that she and Grandpa George never paid interest on a credit card either. She was very proud of that.
Today credit cards, debit cards, electronic transfers, electronic debits proliferate our lives. One thing has not changed. If you don’t pay off your monthly balance, you will pay interest rates as high as 25%. As financial book author Dave Ramsey would say “that is just plain dumb”.
My financial tip is to always pay off your credit cards monthly. If you can’t discipline yourself to do that, use your scissors and cut up the cards.
Managing your credit cards wisely will make you rich. Just saying!
Love,
Dad