Credit Card Horror Stories from the Internet to Show You What Not to Do with Yours

If you can’t pay it back, don’t spend the money!

This article is part of our series 'What You Wish You Knew as a Student'. You might find in-article games where you could play to win. To read more articles from this series and find more games, head here. 

We’d love nothing more than to walk around with a Platinum Amex Card tapping it buying oysters for lunch, new kicks and a plane ticket to Barbados. And maybe a rare labubu ... 👀

But would that be financially responsible? Probs not.

A credit card is like a borrowing system. It lets you borrow money to make purchases, which you’ll pay back later, either in full each month or over time with added interest. Credit cards can be great for some things, but if you don’t know how to use them or use them irresponsibly it can result in a lot of debt.

To motivate you on what not to do, we scoured the internet to find some of the craziest credit card stories for your entertainment.

Read your terms and conditions carefully.

@thatgirlindebt So this is foolish and ridiculous but I sort of had the urge to share it… 😅 A lot of people have said how great it is to be honest and up front about debt - and I’ve found it so helpful to talk about! If anyone is ever feeling silly or embarrassed or upset, I hope this helps you 😂💖 we all do foolish things sometimes, we are human! This is just one of many foolish things I have done, let me assure you 😂 We can do this 🥰 one step at a time. #debt #debtfreejourney #creditcarddebt #moneytips #frugalliving #overspending #spendingmoney #debthelp ♬ original sound - thatgirlindebt

@thatgirlindebt on TikTok is in, you guessed it, credit card debt. But she’s now working towards being debt-free thankfully!

But, when she was younger and new to the credit card game she got a card that was zero per cent interest for three months! Sounds like a dream, right?

No, it’s not she should have read her terms and conditions. Because the way it usually works is that you’ll have to pay off everything on that credit card before the three months is up to not pay interest.

She thought “if I make all my purchases in the space of three months, I never have to pay any interest on what I bought”. She then went on to pay for a holiday and a number of other things and at the end of three months she racked up a bill of $3000.

She didn’t realise she had to clear the card. And she was charged approximately 20 per cent interest on $3000 🥲

Declined card on the first date.

Sometimes, even when you do everything right something will still go wrong with your card.

One guy was going on a date with a girl his friends introduced him too – apparently his friends also thought they would be a perfect match.

He took her on super special date. We’re talking flowers, a nice dinner, the works. They spent three hours at dinner and had a great time but when it came time to pay the bill…his card was declined.

Three times. She paid for the date and he apologised and promised to pay her back.

When he called the credit card company, they didn’t understand and said he was in good standing, and it shouldn’t have been declined.

When he finally went to look at his card, it was the wrong card. The server had given him back the wrong person’s card hence why it was declined.

So maybe carry your debit card or some cash with you rather than depending on your credit card.

Using the work credit card irresponsibly.

It’s bad enough if you use your credit card irresponsibly, but if you’re ever given a company credit card, it’s probably a good idea to only use it for work expenses.

One reddit story details how a staff member tried to assure their boss that “his Xbox Live Gold sub was a business expense that belonged on the credit card like I didn’t just seem him playing Halo in the break room.”

And maybe you’re thinking ‘oh maybe it really was an expense because of the industry he worked in’.

He worked in construction.

So, if you’re getting a credit card or thinking about getting one, maybe read every single term and condition and comb through all the info the bank provides you!

This article does not constitute personal financial advice. Before acting on any information in this article, you should consider your money goals and financial situation to ensure it’s appropriate to you.