My mom told me about how she had “rebuilt” her credit by getting a secure HSBC Credit Card (which is an article for another day because I greatly despise HSBC and their Orchard Bank affiliate) the only catch is you had to put a deposit and essentially you’d be borrowing from yourself the amount which you had to pay back by the end of the month. So, I gave it a shot, $300 wasn’t THAT much money for what I was trying to accomplish. It wasn’t until after 7 months of nightmarish customer service that I actually received the card.

My patience had grown incredibly thin, and I thought I had run out of luck until I discovered the wonders of USAA. (which is an article for another day because I am madly in love with USAA)

I had previously paid little attention to my insurance company until I was referred to their website by a customer service rep to pay my bill online. I told them about the problem I was having with getting a credit card, and in a wink of an eye I was granted my first credit card with 2K$ limit. Oh was I ever the happiest Latin boy under the sun.

A couple of months later, I was pushing a bunch of buttons and clicking all kinds of links and I wound up with my American Express card, which had a 10K$ limit. *eyes glowing*
Suffice it to say I’ve been learning some very important lessons about Credit Cards since then. One of them is that, credit cards are not as simple as they seem, but if you use them right they can really make a difference. Still, they can be as evil as the sun is hot — and it’s no wonder that Credit Card Critics are seeking More Regulation to help protect unsuspecting victims. Afterall everybody loves your money and they’ll do anything to get more of it, which is why you might want to discover 35 Outrageous Fees and How To Avoid Them

Of course, not all of us are so lucky. But at least for me, those simple words uttered by my father when I was younger, especially in a time and place where there was no money, had really had a snowball effect.

Though I haven’t talked to him in nearly 10 years, this is one of the things I will never forget. He gave me the gift of wisdom, transformed over the years from his experience.