05/31/2026
If I could go back to being 25, I wouldn’t treat my credit cards like free money.
Because that’s exactly what it felt like at the time.
“I’ll just pay it off next month.”
But “next month” turned into carrying a balance…
And carrying a balance turned into paying interest…
And suddenly, I wasn’t using my money to build anything—I was using it to catch up.
Instead, I would use my credit cards for what I could actually afford that month. Because the truth is that credit cards aren’t the problem. It’s how easy they make it to disconnect spending from reality.
Here’s what I didn’t fully understand back then:
Those rewards points?
They don’t matter if you’re paying interest.
The bank is still winning.
That 18–35% interest quietly cancels out anything you’re earning in cash back or travel points—and then some.
So instead of being a tool, my credit card became expensive debt.
If I could do it differently, I’d keep it simple:
Use a credit card for convenience, not lifestyle upgrades
Only charge what I already have in my checking account
Pay it off in full every single month
That’s how a credit card actually works for you—not against you.
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