Monica Eaton, CFEI, Author, Sr. Vice President, Texas First Bank

We are pleased to have Monica Eaton share with us an "AHA" money memory. Welcome Monica!

About Monica

Monica Eaton is a Certified Financial Education Instructor, writer, and content creator.

She is the author of Money Plan, a rhyming picture book that teaches young children about money, saving, and budgeting. Her upcoming middle grade book, Mister May’s Money Manual, will release in the Spring of 2022.

Monica first realized her passion for financial literacy while serving as a student counselor for her college’s student money management center. She currently uses that passion to help parents and children have meaningful conversations about money.

Monica holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from Sam Houston State University and a master’s degree in economics from Baylor University.

She is a proud Houstonian, a book lover, and a travel enthusiast.

You can discover more about Monica, her work and mission at: monicaeaton.com.

In Her Own Words

I have made a lot of money mistakes in the past, and it’s one of the reasons why I am so passionate about teaching financial literacy to children and teens.

Let me tell you about the time when a surprise piece of mail got me into a bit of a bind.

A Shiny Piece of Plastic

When I was a senior in high school a shiny piece of plastic with my name on it arrived in the mail. It was a credit card with a $1,000 limit. At 18, I never had $1,000 to myself in my entire life. 

According to the attached letter, I just had to fill out a little bit of paperwork and the money would all be mine! I could not wait to get my hands on that money because I knew exactly what I was going to spend it on: a jewel encrusted prom dress that I saw in the window of Macy’s.

I never dreamed that I could afford a dress like that, but now with my $1,000 credit card in hand, the dress would be mine. 

I Danced All Night

When prom night came around, I danced all night in that dress. Little did I know at the time that I would be dancing with the consequences of that dress for a lot longer than one night!

When a credit card bill arrived in the mail, I couldn’t believe it. The credit card company wanted all the money I spent on the dress back plus a little extra they called interest. There was no way I could pay them all the money back. Luckily, the credit card company only wanted a minimum payment of $25 a month, a sum I could easily afford with the wages from my job at a local restaurant.

A Long Cycle of Making Minimum Payments

My prom dress purchase started a long cycle of me running up my credit card balance and making minimum payments on the debt.

The credit card company reinforced my “good” behavior by giving me multiple credit line increases, and I happily spent more money with each increase in my credit limit.

It took me years to recognize that credit cards were not “free” money. By making only the minimum payment, I was paying almost double the cost of my original purchase once interest and fees were factored in.

I Knew I Needed to Do Something About It

At a certain point, I started to feel anxious about my credit card debt and I knew I needed to do something about it.

I got financial counseling, stopped my frivolous spending, and paid as much as I could towards my credit card balance each month.

Happily, I have been credit card debt free for many years, but I cringe when I think that a long line of financial mistakes all started with a surprise piece of mail and a dress.

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