A & E

Why do I always wait until the last minute to get gas? I muttered to myself as I hurriedly pulled in to the gas station. I was supposed to meet some friends tonight, and there was no way that my car would make it there and back. One of these times, I'm going to be stranded somewhere!

I pulled up to pump No. 2 and promptly took my debit card out of my wallet. With a swift swipe and quick punch in of my PIN, I had the cap off and was ready to go. Fill her up!

But instead of watching the number of gallons register on the screen in front of me, I watched the screen report: Your transaction has been canceled. Please see cashier.

Whaaat? I thought. I don't have time for this!

So again I swiped my card and entered my PIN. And once again, the machine beeped and told me it would not take my card. I tried to recall the last time I looked at the balance in my account. Although I couldn't remember, I knew that I had just used it yesterday on my mini-shopping spree. It worked fine. So what could be wrong now?

Third time's the charm, right? Wrong. I finally gave up and gave the cashier my last bill -- a pathetic five! Well, at least with the 1.25 gallons more, I was sure to get home and back to the gas station without stalling.

The fact that my card didn't work nagged me until later that night. Finally, the time had come to check my online banking balance. Holding my breath I read: minus $86.45.

What?! How could this happen? My eyes began racing over the page that recorded my "mini" shopping spree in the past two weeks. The painful truth was right in front of me.

Now, I love shopping. I have always loved shopping. I love the feeling of coming home with bags filled with new and fun clothes, all of which I got for the best bargain! For the past two weeks, I had been shopping a little more than usual. I hadn't even realized how much until I looked at my recent activity.

Little did I know what I was doing at the time, but every time I swiped my beloved debit card, a $35 charge was made to my account. Thankfully, I had money to transfer from savings to put me in the green once again. Even so, I learned a hard yet valuable lesson.

I've always heard that credit and debit were bad for you. My dad would always spout statistics like, "People who use debit spend 20 percent more than people who use cash."

Truth is, every time I swiped the card in the past couple of weeks, I was caught up in the moment. I was too wrapped up in all the great things I found on the clearance rack, that I didn't stop to think about what I was doing. Using a card seems like the easy, fast and fun thing to use while out, but now I know better.

I'm realizing more and more how important it is to make the right decisions, even if they seem small at the time. Looking back, I think to myself, Did I really need that top? Or, I could really survive, even without another pair of flip-flops.

"Growing up" brings a whole new perspective to things. I always knew I would have to make important decisions someday, like what I was going to do about college or what kind of car I would drive. Thinking of them years before, they seemed so exciting and fun. I just never thought of those adult decisions to be about balancing a checkbook (totally not exciting or fun!).

Although my first attempt at managing my finances on my own didn't go so well, I learned a valuable lesson. It really is the littlest decisions that make the difference.

From now on it's cash only, a balanced checkbook and no more debit for me!

Nicole Paladin, 17, of Monroeville, is a recent high school graduate who will attend Point Park University this fall.

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