When she moved to America from Ireland in 2020, the writer had a single credit card and owed the bank €1,000 – but her casual approach to borrowing coupled with America’s predatory credit culture proved a dangerous mix
Credit card debt
Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about what advice I’d give my 20-year-old self. It’s the kind of question that seems mostly to come up in celebrity interviews in glossy magazines, and has no real purpose. The celebrity in question will either have pithy and insightful recommendations for their younger self, or a jovial sort of self-deprecating warning that speaks of wilder, more carefree years.
My advice doesn’t really fall into either category. I might tell myself to stay away from men with goatees, or that I should try not to pick fights with people on social media. Then again, I’ve survived both of those errors in judgment, so perhaps a more circumspect choice would be: do not borrow money from anyone – friends, family, banks (including by way of credit card) – unless it’s a matter of life and death.