Dear Leslie M Sweet,You never know when unexpected expenses may arise, so it’s good to have credit available to back you up. As a reminder, your Discover card has a credit line of $6,300.
This is the beginning of a letter I got the other day from Discover Card. The truth is, I don’t know when unexpected expenses may arise, and it is good to have something to back me up, but AVAILABLE CREDIT is not what is GOOD to have to back me up. What is GOOD to have as a back-up is an EMERGENCY FUND!!
The other truth is, that until I had an emergency fund, my available credit WAS my emergency fund. While I cannot predict WHEN an emergency will arise, I can predict that one will. My chances of an unexpected expense arising in the next 12 months is about 99.99%. The chances that I'm saving for that unknown event: 100%
So while I do have $6,300 available to me in available credit, I also have an emergency fund. Even though credit is available to me, I will do everything in my power to not accrue more debt. I just don’t think God was kidding when He said that the borrower is slave to the lender and I refuse to willingly enslave myself to Discover Card – or anyone else for that matter. I just don’t know how I can live a life that honors God when I willingly put others in front of Him.
Dear Discover Card,
