The Hustle of Sistah Ant

As I type this, I am wearing a free t-shirt.  I’m borrowing it from Mister Ant.  (I’ve got some laundry to do…)  Anyway, what’s interesting about this shirt is that when I first saw this shirt of his, I recognized it right away.  It’s exactly the same shirt that I got for free back in the late 90’s at college for filling out a credit card application.  Turns out he got this shirt - his shirt - exactly the same way.  He can’t remember if it was one of the times that he filled out a fake name or if he actually applied for the card (either way, he doesn’t have the card now), but I remember what happened with me.

I actually wanted a credit card.  I wanted the shirt that they gave me, too.  (I no longer have either the card or the t-shirt).  I already knew that the smiling faces handing out t-shirts were predators who hoped I’d get myself into debt over my head - my dad had warned me about interest rates, and an upperclassman had warned me about how long it takes to pay cards off by paying only the minimum payments.  I knew the risks, but I also knew that it’s hard to get credit if you don’t already have some, so I was ready to start my credit history and determined to beat the game.

Did you notice the little progress bar on my blog that shows that I paid off $7,858 in old credit card debt?  Beating the game was harder than I thought it would be.  One major emergency or protracted unemployment could have made me a loser.  I’ve been blessed to get to a point where I don’t have revolving debt.  But if I had it to do all over again, I wouldn’t have done it the same way.  I would have taken the t-shirt card, but not the subsequent candy bar card (add one more), or unsolicited cards that were just sent to me (add three more), and perhaps I would have thought twice about the card my bank offered me (yes, add another).  By the time I was twenty years old, even though I was making less than $10,000 a year as a full time student, I had six cards and was paying minimum balances.   I was losing the game, big time.  I paid off and cancelled three (two of which I never even used) out of fear that I had too much credit available for someone who hadn’t shown the ability to say "no" enough - for someone who was paying minimum balances just to get by.  I was right.  That realization saved my financial future.  Putting away and not using my three un-cancelled cards (which are the only three that I still have, use, and want) saved my financial future.  Finally paying significantly more than the minimums until the debt was gone has saved my financial future.

If you have kids, I know you know how hard it is to tell them that something may be harder than they think it is, and that they should be careful. But if you can, please try your best.  Help guide them into building a credit history in a less dangerous way than the way I did.  Involve yourself as an advisor as much as your new adult will let you.  And good luck with those t-shirts out there.