Just In Case

personal finance,  money, kid money book, financial planning, credit, loans, bank, lending, debt, credit card, mortgage, car note, Candi Sparks, Can I Have Some Money?, Nacho Money, Amazon, parenting, women, shoes, emergency, financial emergency, sale, saving, spending wisely, use credit wiselyResearch indicates that Americans have a negative savings rate.  The cash saved in Grandma’s cookie jar on the top kitchen shelf could be a thing of the past,  now that 50 is

In case of emergency

the new 30 and cougars have a lot more living to do.   Regardless of gender, credit cards have seemingly replaced the old-fashioned cash to be used “in case of an emergency.”  We can confidently “swipe” our troubles away.  For this privilege most of us are truly grateful. Unfortunately, not so many people are clear on what consists of an actual emergency.

To the fashionista, or the I’m-so-over-worked-I-deserve-this shoppers,  a shoe sale or favorite, much-needed [you fill in the blank] is a kind of personal emergency that merits drastic use of plastic.  While spending less is great, unless the amount saved is uh, “saved” and put to the side for future use… it is really kind of just spending less to buy more.  Shoe consumption is good for the sole (pardon the pun), but this may not be the emergency situation that can make or break one’s life.  Such personal credit card emergencies, are simply “personal” and not to be judged until you walk a mile in that person’s shoes.  The new ones, I mean.

Others use credit cards in place of cash as a source funding, for business purposes. There are multiple stories on the web of filmmakers in need of funding who creatively financed their efforts by using credit cards. Amazingly creative. That may have worked in the past, but, today a start-up filmmaker might not be able to access credit without proof of assets to pay back loans (through the use of credit cards, or otherwise).

When thinking of credit, I am grateful to lenders that place their trust in a person’s ability to repay.  Credit has become of rite of passage that allows us to improve our quality of life and realize dreams of owning, cars, homes, businesses, education, etc.  At this point in history, we are learning to appreciated the lenders, and how to use credit wisely.

A little free financial advice ~ keep growing your own financial resources.  But, keep the plastic too, just in case.

Candi Sparks