As of July 28th, I am on a credit card diet. A few weeks ago I had the thought to make a spreadsheet of all my credit card bills and to put it all in living color. I literally woke up in the middle of the night and thought of that. At first I thought I had 18 credit cards, but thankfully I miscounted. But I still have 15 which is not much better. The dollar amount is even worse. I can’t say what it is. Only my husband and one super-trusted friend know the amount. It is mortifying and embarrassing. But there are 5 digits and one comma.
I shop too much and use credit cards for everything. Well, no more. I have been on a strictly cash basis since that wake-up call. I have not done any shopping and while I have not really cut down on my socializing, I have scaled back on what and how much I drink since I am using cash. I do find that I have a lot of friends who are willing to buy me a glass of wine, but I don’t want that to happen too often!
I also don’t want to cut back entirely on my salon appointments, but I probably don’t need to get my hair blown out as much as I normally do and so far I have only done a brow wax and pedicure and paid cash. It is a humbling experience!
If you knew me 5 years ago, you will remember my Year of No Shopping in 2010. That lasted from February to May and then I fell off the wagon by purchasing a Kate Spade clutch on our Vegas vacation. Nonetheless, I learned some valuable lessons in living a little more cheaply and as I recall I did pay off $1,500 of credit card debt.
Anyhow I am back on the credit card diet. Wish me luck! I need it! P.S. I can still shop as long as I pay cash.
3 comments:
Been there and repeatedly done that. I am currently trying to pay off 2 cc which skyrocketed. Well, mostly 1 when I failed to pay it off when the 0% ended. All those delayed interest charges are killer.
Love Noodles
Credit cards are terrible. I can't even have one. I lived off credit cards in college, thinking I would be rich once I graduated and pay them off. Well that didn't happen. Then I tried a debit consildation place for about a year...and that was worthless. So finally, in 2007, I delcared bankruptcy. It was the best thing I ever did (for me...not saying it's for you!). But since then, even though I get credit card offers in the mail all the time...I don't want a damn thing to do with them. I can justify spending (and eating and drinking) with the best of them. So just dealing with cash keeps me preeetyyy safe. If I don't have money for it, I can't get it. Heather is the opposite. SO she has credit cards with no balance and pays them off immediately if she does charge something. I blame my mother. I like to tell her that all the time when we are talking about my finances. lol. Good luck dude!
Noodles and Amy thank you for the comments.
Noodles, I always love hearing from the other Noodles! Woof-woof!
Amy, credit cards - yes, they can be a slippery slope. Heather is probably like Eric--my opposite! Responsible!
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