Finance

*— and how mine taught me more about money than school ever did*

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When I got my first credit card, I treated it like a ticking bomb.

I was 22, fresh out of college, clutching that shiny piece of plastic as if it were both a gift and a curse. My parents had warned me: *“Don’t use it unless you can pay it off.”* My friends, meanwhile, treated theirs like a golden ticket to instant gratification — sneakers, gadgets, impulse dinners they couldn’t afford.

I didn’t want to be either of them.