Credit Card Management for a Broke Millennial

Some people lose money by being scammed, others unable to control spending habits. For me, I’m a bit of both. Here’s how I loose almost 1k, thinking I’m getting longer end of the stick. 

If you think I loose money by investing, you are wrong. If you think I was scammed, you could be right. I am a bit flustered here to expose my stupidity, my poor judgement and my lack of research. However, in a way I feel like this is a valuable life lesson that you couldn’t learn from school. 

This whole thing begin when I first watch financial YouTube video on how to better manage personal finance. One of the video that I watch talk about how we could actually benefit by having a credit card. As it serve as a foundation for credit score. Gullible as I am, got the first credit card available to me without really understanding the charges and implication of a credit card per se. It is obviously a service. Bear this in mind. Service were never free. If you think you are not paying for it, think again. 

Banking industry is notorious for its nature of making money from the needy. That is what you have to watch out for. You as the user should always bear in mind that they are making money from you. Use that to your advantage. Always question everything. 

Long story short, I got the credit card, but a bit sceptical on the first month, but started using it to its full potential after a few months without realizing that my savings are at stake. Fourth month of using the card, I feel a bit burdened. Not sure why money is always come short. The outstanding balance of the card remains the same despite my attempts of paying it off. My poor calculation and oblivious nature keep me going until on the 6th month, I started to question all the money that was loss into thin air. Using spreadsheet, I leave the calculation to the computer itself and boom, my actual total outstanding balance is 476 but on the website it is 1157 about 500 discrepancies. From there, I drew conclusion that the bank is charging me average of 100/month without me realizing. 

Now that I’ve discovered the truth, my next plan was to contact the bank. I’m kinda tied to this card as I was using it to purchase an iPhone. My dismissed gut feeling all this while were true and should have been taken seriously. Had I think things through few months ago, hundreds of ringgits could have been saved. With that said, I would like to share my original rules of using credit card that I drew before I was blinded by the “financial freedom”  I thought I had. 

1. Use credit card for investment. Not for spending.
2. Use credit card only when I have to make advance payment like if going out with friends, or family, but be sure to pay back instantly