Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy
Welcome to Day 743 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.
This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom
The Wisdom of Credit Cards - Ask Gramps

Thank you for joining us for our 5 days per week, wisdom and legacy building podcast. This is Day 743 of our Trek time for our Philosophy Friday series.  Each Friday we will ponder some of the basic truths and mysteries of life, and how they can impact us in creating our living legacy.  As we continue on this trek called life, sometimes we have questions about life, so our Friday trek is a time where we can ‘Ask Gramps.’   Gramps will answer questions that you would like to ask your dad or granddad, but for whatever reason, this is not possible.  No matter how old you are, I know that all of us would like the opportunity to ask dad or gramps questions about life in many areas.  We will address areas such as finances, relationships, health/fitness, business/work, home repairs/renovations, seasons of life, spiritual/Biblical questions, and any others areas that come our way.  As your fellow sojourner and mentor on this trek that we call life, it is my goal to provide you with practical wisdom and advice about any area of life. It is crucial that I receive a constant flow of questions so please submit your questions to guthrie@wisdom-trek.com, or send me a message at the bottom of any page on wisdom-trek.com or text me at 740.350.5732 and I will answer your questions on our Friday podcast.

We are broadcasting from our studio at ‘The Big House’ in Marietta, Ohio.  As we now enter the holiday season of Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years, many people in the western countries will be faced with the choice of how much they should spend of gifts for family and friends.  Most of us are tempted to spend more than we really should.  The unfortunate reality is that many people also make these purchases with credit cards when they have no plan or idea of how they will afford those same purchases.  So the question for today is:

Hey Gramps, “Is it wise to use credit cards, or do you advise not using them at all?”
The Wisdom of Credit Cards

This is a tough question because there are no clear-cut answers.  Some financial advisers such as Dave Ramsey teaches that you should never use credit cards, and I understand why he teaches that.  Many people do not have the financial discipline to use them prudently and effectively.   So my answer is, it depends.  If you know that you are not disciplined financially, I would strongly suggest not using credit cards at all.  They are too easy to get trapped into the never-ending cycle of mounting debt which can shackle you into the prison of financial bondage and limit the choices that you can make.  When you are shackled financially, you will not be able to take advantages of wise choices and investments.  You will be ever chained to a life of mediocrity with limited paths to free yourself.  You will become a slave to the lender, in this case, the loan sharks which we nicely refer to as credit card companies.   Uncontrolled credit card debt has destroyed marriages, uprooted families and has caused untold misery to millions of people.  As we are told in Proverbs 22:7 Just as the rich rule the poor, so the borrower is servant to the lender. The sad part of this situation is that most credit card purchases are for things you don’t really need to impress people you don’t really like.  When you are on a tight budget, it is nearly impossible to climb out of the abyss of credit card debt unless you are fully committed to making the sacrifices that are needed.  With that being said, you probably think that Gramps is completely against any use of credit cards, but that is not true.  In fact, using credit cards prudently and wisely can actually make you money.  You might be thinking, gramps, that is not possible.