If you read my last post you see how I was able to move some money around and take advantage of a low APR balance transfer. This got me thinking about how I got into debt in the first place and how many times I’ve moved my “money” around so easily online.
Online Gambling
A big portion of my debt is from gambling online and following so-called “Pick of the Day” services. It’s amazing how the results can be twisted to make it look like they’re always winning. I was betting with a progression system which basically means if you lose a bet you try to win it back on your next one. You would do this 3 or 4 times before finally accepting the loss. I won a lot of the bets within a game or two, usually winning $100 each time. Up and down my account went day after day, and at one point it was worth $10k! If I was in a casino I would’ve ran out the door with a handful of money. Betting online, without the physical money in my hand, was so easy that I eventually kept playing and lost a lot of bets for $3 or $4k until my entire account was depleted. If this was cash in my hand I really think I would have handled myself differently. Now I’m not saying I wouldn’t have gambled more and spent money having a good time if I won at a casino. But I would have gone home with a substantial chunk of change, at least $8k out of the $10k.
Online Banking
Now, of course, it’s not the same but think about this and how it correlates to online banking, more specifically your credit cards, and especially balance transfer offers. The other culprit of my debt. Citi is offering me $10k at 0% for a year? Well that’s free money, I’ll take it! I pay the $200 or so a month and live comfortably with over $10k in savings. Then month 11 rolls around and I realize that $7800 is due before the rate reset and my bank account is only at $2000. Well look, another balance transfer offer, I’ll take it! And so the downward spiral begins. I’m sure this has happened to a lot of us. Our banks accounts go up, as does our credit card balances, but is it real when it’s just moving numbers around on the internet?
Is online money “real” ?
Well it’s not that simple. Our accounts and debts should all have a purpose (emergency fund, retirement, mortgage, etc.) with an entry and exit strategy for using the money or loan but I believe very few people think about their “money” this way. If my money was stored under my mattress you would not see me placing $3000 bets! And to the same affect, I would not go to the bank and take out a $10k loan without thinking twice about it. But online, it’s just a few clicks of the mouse and it’s done!
What’s in store for the future?
Seeing what’s going on in the news with adults taking mortgages they can’t afford and getting bailouts, what does it teach our children? If someone cannot manage their own expenses and overspends without regard, how are they teaching their children to use money wisely? Do kids nowadays even get to see real paper money, or are they learning that you can buy whatever you want by swiping a plastic card through a machine? How will they manage their own finances when they grow up if they do not have a parent teaching them? What do you think aboutphysical “money in the future? Will we eventually be a cashless society?
