Buy now, pay later never works

When my parents were struggling to raise a young family of two boys they did it without the use of credit cards.

That's not to say there weren't credit cards because there were. It's just that Chargex (the original VISA) and Master Charge (the original MasterCard) had to be paid in full at the end of each month. Since then credit cards have morphed into the interest-sucking entities they are today.

Times have changed and today there are credit cards offered by hundreds of companies. If you wanted to you could have upwards of 24 credit cards in your wallet for everything from food to appliances. You could also have each and everyone of these cards maxed to their limits. Unfortunately that's the case many of us find ourselves in -- too many cards, high interest rates and in more and more cases no jobs.

There are television shows these days dedicated to the pitfalls of credit card problems. So if so many of us are falling behind on our credit card payments, why is it so easy to get a credit card? And why do the companies that offer these credit cards continuously send out offers hoping you'll "start the new year off right by taking advantage of the low 0% annual interest rate until May 31" by using the enclosed credit card cheques.

I'm looking at another one of these offers right now that's encouraging me to use one of my credit card cheques for debt consolidation, a March break getaway, a big screen TV or a new set of golf clubs. If I wanted to consolidate my debt the last place I would look would be a credit card with a 19.56 per cent interest rate!

The problem for many of us is that we'll use these cheques and put more charges on our credit cards. Is it any wonder so many people these days are in financial dire straights?

I would prefer to see a tightening of the rules regarding credit cards, similar to the rules in place when Mom and Dad were younger -- back in the days when you only made purchases when you could afford them.