To My Credit ...

My first blog. I’ll admit it, I barely know what a blog is. It sounds like a place with alligators and snakes and Spanish moss. It’s not that I’m computer illiterate as much as Twitter tentative. But here I am. My name is Lenny, and I work in the Marketing Department. I’m just like many of you, still learning the ropes of not only all the wonders of computers, but all the realities of personal finance as well. It’s a learning curve, and I hope to learn right along with you.

Speaking of personal finance, how do you feel about cash? I mean beyond the love of it. I’m talking cash for purchases. I used to be all cash, all the time. I was really a little smug when I handed the cashier the green instead of the plastic. It was quick. It was efficient. Then one day a co-worker went to Mexico on vacation … using airfare she had been awarded for using her credit card. And here I was in St. Louis, in January, with a fistful of dollars, a really hard frost, and not much else. It got me to thinking; I wasn’t being rewarded. My cash was nice, but I got little from actually using it.

As I looked into the whole cash vs. credit dilemma, I learned in my case, credit could be king, with an asterisk. First, credit was safer. If I lost my cash, it was gone. That’s not so good. But if I lost a credit card, I had a handy 800 number to call, and the card would be replaced.

And there was the convenience factor. It was hard to deny. No trips to the ATM or branch for the needed funds for a purchase. Like an Old West gunslinger, I just drew my credit card and, Pow!, purchase power! I could even make online purchases from anywhere in the world, 24/7. Nice!

Oh, and I almost forgot, I now earn stuff when I make purchases using my credit card; it comes with a rewards program. I’m a happy camper.

Now about that asterisk. As we all know, credit can have its downside, especially if not used responsibly. There are experts on both sides of the fence who argue about the benefits versus the pitfalls of credit cards. In my case, it makes sense. I only spend what I know I can pay off at the end of the month, that way interest does me no financial harm. Is credit right for you? You may have a different situation. Some have had bad experiences with credit, or don’t trust their spending habits. That is totally acceptable. The call to have or have not is all yours. That’s why we refer to it as PERSONAL finance.

I don’t use credit for everything, so it’s not like I quit the cash habit cold turkey, but many purchases are now on my card. It’s still rather new to me, so we’ll see how it goes, but so far, so good. My next tentative step will be online bill pay. I’ll let you know how that goes …