The Black Hole of Credit Card Debt

Frequently throughout today I have been thinking about money. As the economy is struggling it makes me wonder why so many Americans are in debt. Yes many people have lost jobs and are trying to produce a living on low paying jobs. The housing market is still horrendous and of course ever economy goes through recessions before spiking upward again. Yet there is something else nagging me about the amount of debt some Americans are in. Credit card debt is a killer. I know from my experiences that if you are not careful you could be over you credit limit in a snap. I got my first credit card when I was 18. Unfortunately nobody ever explained to me about interest rates and credit limits. I was young and excited to have the chance to establish credit. However, I was completely ignorant of how negatively a credit card can affect one's credit and how easy it is to spend credit versus my own money. I wish someone had sat down with me and explained all the details about building credit and the positive and negative impacts a credit card can have. This is something that should be taught to teens before they step out into the real world and cross over in the adult world. Yet I never received any form of financial education throughout my high school. It wasn't until I was almost twenty years old that I received a brief class through the Marine Corps on personal fiance. Because of my poor decisions with my credit cards I am now struggling to pay bills that I would never have had a problem paying before my credit card debt. Instead of saving money I have to take the money I could have saved or invested and use that to pay of the debt I have accumulated for a bunch of crap that I never needed to begin with. Its been two years and will be a few more before I can say I am free from credit card debt but at least I am in control of my finances. I learned my lesson and will never put myself into this position again.
The purpose of this story to help other young adults be better prepared to handle their finances and save and spend wisely. At some point if I am accepted at Metlife as a Financial Services Representative I can receive my licensing and training so that I will be able to help others become financially smart. If I can prevent any individual from going through the black hole of credit card debt than I have succeeded. It seems to me if we teach teens to be smarter about money and credit cards than they will more likely be successful money managers and less likely to amass a couple grand in debt that will follow them for years.