August 28 was a monumental day for me. In fact, it was the day I looked forward to in years! I have this bad habit of procrastinating pertinent matters for tomorrow but this particular ordeal lasted for almost five years.

Voila! I have finally paid my credit card bill in full! And I mean, down to the last centavo! Handing over my 5-digit payment was truly one of the sweetest things I have ever gone through in life. I could almost taste it! It was more than just a sigh of relief!It almost seemed like a big load was lifted off my chest. You people, have no idea how much I suffered these past few years over that freaking plastic card. Signing up for that application, I believe, was the cause of my financial woes and I deeply regret it.

I have no one else to blame but myself. I got so caught up with the idea of bringing home a new pair of stilletos or a new pair of jeans or a dainty little bag just by swiping my Mastercard. Every item that I only wished for was virtually at the palm of my hands. I had no control of my spending habits. All I knew was, I had to have more and more. It felt so exhilirating to leave a shop with a paper bag filled with goodies I drooled over. Ironically, when I reach home and take them out of the bag, I realize that I don’t need them after all! In hindsight, some have remained untouched in my closet. But that didn’t deter me from hoarding items that I thought would give me a certain kind of satisfaction. It had become a compulsion. The next thing I knew, I have maxxed out my credit limit and everything went downhill.

Since I couldn’t pay my bill in full, I resorted to paying only the minimum amount. I was informed much later that paying the miminum will only make things even worse because in truth, I was only paying the interest and not the principal. True enough, everytime I checked my monthly bill, nothing has changed.

The straw that broke the camel’s back for me was the time when credit card representatives started hounding me with calls in, for heaven’s sake, my workplace! How worse can it get? One time while I was reading my students’ book reports, a co-teacher came rushing in to tell me that I had an important phone call. I was taken aback because seldom do I receive phone calls at work. Reluctantly, I picked up my bag and walked all the way to the other building where our phone line was, to take a call which could turn out to be prank in the first place.

When I held the receiver close to my ears, a woman’s voice resounded. I knew right away who she was because their company has been calling me quite incessantly. Soon after, the realization that I was overdue hit me on the head. The woman informed me that my card had been endorsed for cancellation because of my refusal to make a payment. I told her to expect my payment anytime soon.

When I applied for a credit card a few years ago, I was not fully aware of the trouble that I might be getting myself into. All I knew was, my worn-out wallet would finally have a shining Mastercard logo that I could flash everytime the need arises. To me, it was a sign of independence. Never did I bother my parents to bail me out of my financial worries. It was solely my responsibility. And in a way, it made me feel empowered to be managing my own finances.

Now, I feel like a newly-born child… I’ve learned my lesson the hard way and I am not about to commit the same mistakes again. The card is still in my wallet but I haven’t been using it for the longest time. I consciously make an effort NOT to bring home a single paper bag from a mall. It’s a tough challenge but I’m getting by.

What is online shopping for? :)