Cars, prescription drugs, food, power tools, information.  You may be asking yourself what they have to do with credit: absolutely nothing, at least directly.  But, indirectly they all have something very important in common with credit: responsibility.  Each one of those items, used responsibly can be of great benefit, but once the line is crossed toward irresponsibility, irreparable damage may occur.  The same may be said of misusing credit, which like the previously mentioned items, can be a very powerful tool if used properly.  However, people need to stop placing the blame on others, including credit issuers, and recognize that they are their own worst enemy.

There are people who believe credit to be an evil concept that should be avoided at all costs, claiming that living a cash-only lifestyle is the best way to live.  They claim that credit issuers are predators, extending lines to unworthy or uneducated consumers knowing that they will misuse and abuse it, leading to difficulty in paying bills and accumulating interest charges that will take years to pay off (if at all).

Can’t the same thing be said of food as well-any kind of food, not just fast food mind you?  If you overeat and do not have the discipline to exercise, you will accumulate weight in the form of fat that will take years to work off (again, if at all).  How about prescriptions drugs?  If you are not disciplined and impatient with the time it takes for medication to begin working and take more than the prescribed amount, you run the risk of becoming addicted or dependent on the medication.  Knowledge and information?  If you discover information about someone that others are not supposed to know, and tell them, you run the risk of ruining a part of their life.  Better yet, if you receive inside information about a company, such as the more recent cases involving media mogul Martha Stewart or Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, and use it for your own gain, you run the risk of federal sanctions or jail time.  Take cars and power tools: cars can get you from point A to point B and all points in between faster than walking and power tools can reduce the amount of time it takes to build something, but use either of them carelessly and you not only take the chance of hurting yourself or others, but ending their lives as well.

Credit is a tool, a means to an end.  Without it, business would not be able to expand and grow, much less get started.  Governments would not be able to operate at their fullest capacity.  Most people would not be able to afford to buy homes or cars.  Being a tool, like any other, it requires an understanding of how to use it properly.  And, like any other tool, using it incorrectly can end with disasterous results.  The key is to learn the proper use of credit and make sure you understand the benefits as well as the pitfalls of misuse.

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Simply put, credit, like many other things in life, takes knowledge and discipline to get the most out of it.  Eating helps keep you healthy, but eat too much and you can get fat.  Drugs can help you to overcome illness, but abuse them and you may get addicted.  Information can help you get a better job or create something of benefit, but used in the wrong way can be destructive.  Cars and power tools allow us to be more productive with our time, but used recklessly can kill.  And credit can help you to reach your financial goals, but abused can cause you to lose your car, home, and in some cases even your family.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 19th, 2008 at 4:05 pm and is filed under general. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.