Have A Financial Emergency?

One of the many ways that helped me survive my financial crisis was using a credit card. It is true. Before you say another word hear out my story.

My children where at a growing-up stage then. Yes they were already in school. The usual scenario was one day, I’d be in the office working and they’d call. They need something for a school assignment or project, and so if I could just please go to the bookstore to get it. Other days, they unexpectedly become ill, that surely required a trip to the pharmacy for medications. It was definitely a time when emergencies were frequent.

Consequently, those emergencies proved to unnecessarily stress me. It was time to secure an emergency credit facility. And so the story goes and leads me to my boss who was suggesting that I sign up his credit card company. I was a card newbie. Obviously, I didn’t know what type of card I needed. Indulging me over lunch, one time, she helpfully gave me some tips to help me choose the card for my particular need. There were obvious considerations in choosing credit cards. Here’s a few that’s available:

- the low interest cards which are for guys and gals of good credit standing
- instantly approved cards which answers an immediate need, say within a 2-6 week waiting time.
- cards suited for people who wittingly or unwittingly have a less than stellar credit reputation. Card approvals of this category falls within a fixed credit need.
- cards that earn the holder, reward points that can be used when making credit purchases.
- rebate earning cards that provide incentives for every card purchase.
- the miles card which earns the card holder miles points that can be used for planned business or vacations.

I didn’t realize that there were so many options open to prospective credit card users.

That day, lunch was good, not only because it was free but it also came with bits of valuable info. And from what I gathered, my boss used a good web resource, a credit network when she applied for her own.

I went ahead and applied for my kind of credit card. But with that decision came a firm resolve to use this credit resource wisely and judiciously. So why not?