From the time I was a child, I was always interested in what my parents were doing in their business. My father was a chef and owned restaurants and my mom was his loyal partner in crime. I remember washing dishes with them on the weekends when I was as young as five and six years old. I worked all day to earn that special pastry or exquisite special menu item.

From this early age, I learned a lot about business and even more about money. My father carried cash everywhere he went and while he owned a couple of credit cards, I can’t remember him using them much while I was growing up.

When I turned nineteen and had been working at my job for some time, I decided that I needed to get myself a credit card. I’ve never been one to do anything halfway so I applied for six credit cards and I waited patiently for the magical plastic cards to arrive. For some strange reason, I thought plastic was power.

However, I learned quickly upon their arrival that plastic and I would soon part ways. Read more »