The Construct

Just a few months into having my own credit card, I’m now reassessing the benefits of owning one. There are many arguments that try to justify the existence of the credit card.

Some people think that credit cards can be used a sort of insurance policy for those moments when shit happens. In extreme situations, they might. But one better has the means of earning the money to pay it back or else he or she might just be looking at another financial crises thanks to swelling interest.

Emergencies are what emergency funds are for – cash that’s kept safe to be used in case of emergencies. As the more stern financial adviser would say: Anyone who doesn’t have an emergency fund is just plain stupid.

Some would also say that buying on credit gives you the financial flexibility of spending your cash elsewhere. But is that really an advantage?

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Many belief structures teach that money is evil. Even high school Shakespeare condemns financial ventures like usury. But these days, no one really seems to care. Anyone who has got monies can surely get you anything – even more than just a pound of stinking flesh. That’s why I’m all about the money these days.

Now, I’m one of the most scrooge-like people you’d ever meet. I always go for the cheap. I live way within my means. I feel horrible spending money. However, I have to admit that my money IQ needs a lot of work and I have made some stinking financial decisions over the years that I regret until today.

No use continue weeping over spilled milk (one can continue to bitch about that, though) so I have committed to redeem myself by finally exploring investments. I don’t have that much money with which to “play” around in terms of stocks and entrepreneurial ventures. Let’s just say that what I have can be easily wiped out by a good day of gadget splurging. (Haha!) But money is money and that money is hard-earned.

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The span of April to June mark the biggest spending months that I’ve had for the past couple of years. A couple of years ago, I emptied my accounts for our mom’s funeral. Last year, it was that short beach vacation. This year, it’s the house and the furniture.

When I look back at my major expenses, nothing among them come out as sound profitable investments. Funerals are ritualistic. I had a blast at the beach with Team Sugoi, upping my morale just before another academic year. This house is more of a geographical Prozac so the reward’s more psychological than financial. That means that nothing among my biggest expenses actually helped get the money I spent back. And this year, I need the money.

Perhaps this is a wake up call that I really need to stop spending. Not that I spend on a whim since I hate spending. I do need to rebuild my emergency fund after spending most of it on the advance rent and deposit on this place. However, looking again at my short term and medium term goals, there are still a few things that might need me to shell out just a few more bucks.

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Author’s Note: Rant alert. This piece was written with rage. Read on at your own risk.

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I couldn’t bitch more about how the changes in Xoom’s service and PayPal’s uncertainty principle (trumps Heisenberg any day) has affected my financial streams all of a sudden. For the longest I used to receive the money I get from writing on regular intervals via Xoom and that level of control over my finances has kept the berserker in me in check. You see, I suffer from obsessive-compulsion disorder. When things aren’t the way they’re supposed to be, I get disoriented and depressed.

After those horrendous Xoom service changes, things didn’t leave any option for me to get money but to use PayPal. And being the victim of one of those PayPal horror stories, I just couldn’t help it but feel that I am playing Russian roulette with the money sent to me. As logic follows, that felt like playing Russian roulette with my livelihood. For a guy with OCD, that is more than nerve-wracking. It’s devastating.

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