Comments on: Our Credit Card Journey: Swipers To Shredders

By: A Frugal Chick » Frugal Fridays

A Frugal Chick » Frugal Fridays — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 11:10:56 +0000

[...] to get rid of the credit cards in 2010? Here is some great advice on “how [...]

By: Weekend Linkage – December 14, 2009

Weekend Linkage – December 14, 2009 — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 04:28:07 +0000

[...] Our Credit Card Journey: Swipers To Shredders [...]

By: Foxie@CarsxGirl

Foxie@CarsxGirl — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 20:32:20 +0000

Amen to not cutting out everything! Cold turkey doesn’t always work, especially long-term. However, it can be a good short-term strategy when necessary and not often used. It’s what we just did to miraculously pull off $3k in *voluntary* car expenses. (Crazy? YES! Well, at least I am, so…)

Hubby and I do go to the malls, but primarily to go walk around. We do it a lot when the weather is cold and we’d freeze taking a walk around the neighborhood. I’m not much for shopping, but oh boy do I love to look. I’m more tempted to splurge and buy a cookie than some clothing item, to be honest. Usually thinking of the bigger goals anyhow.

By: Vee

Vee — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 19:52:35 +0000

Love your site and all the info about becoming debt free. Becoming debt free is easy when you have discipline and a job, but how about people who are in credit card debt and lost their jobs etc..how do they get out of debt.

By: Matt Jabs

Matt Jabs — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 17:49:05 +0000

Closing and cutting up the cards was something that actually came quite easy for us.

My wife and I were never really huge spenders, but before our financial awakening, we did not know how to save. The reason we were in some debt was due to lack of saving for emergencies.

Now we are reversing that and getting rid of the cards is just the right thing to do. I love not having any – I take it as a challenge. One of the main reasons I ditched the cards was because I wanted to cut ties with the bad relationships. I saw CC’s like a bad ex-girlfriend… why would I want to keep them around if they didn’t treat me right?

Simple… I wouldn’t! And why should CC’s be any different?

By: Frugal Dad

Frugal Dad — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 17:01:55 +0000

@Diane: Rather than “wracking” my brain over the correct spelling here, I’m taking your word for it and updating Chris’ post. Sorry, I couldn’t resist! Thanks for your comments.

By: Diane

Diane — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 15:51:47 +0000

A-a-a-ck. If I weren’s so frugal, I’d have replaced this salvaged, sticky-key keyboard long ago! That last post should read:

Although YOUR finances may have looked like a shipwreck, you did not “wrack” up debt. The word you need here is “rack”.

By: Diane

Diane — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 15:45:38 +0000

Although you finances may have looked like a shipwreck, you did not “wrack” up debt. The word you need here is “rack”.

By: Kim

Kim — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 15:21:57 +0000

Hurray for a budget that includes dining out and clothes shopping! I hate the bare bones budgets, because unless you are unemployed and in serious financial straights they are emotionally difficult to maintain in the long term. I’m an extremely frugal shopper, thrifter and coupon cutter, however I do budget for the occasional splurge as well. Yesterday my husband and I took the day off of work to Christmas shop and go to lunch. It was a JOY to be shopping at Macy’s for a couple of frivolous, budgeted for gifts for our family, and then out to an equally frivolous tasty lunch. Merry Christmas!

By: Sid in Missouri

Sid in Missouri — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 15:14:37 +0000

My transition was pretty easy, but that follows my personality. When I hear a great idea, analyze it, sleep on it a few nights, and everything is still good several days later I go for it with gusto. From the first time I heard Dave Ramsey it took me about a month to convince my wife. At that point we took all of the plastic out of our pockets (reserving only our debit cards), divided up the accounts that were in our names jointly and started calling the card issuing companies to close the accounts. The nice part was none of them had balances. We never racked up a ton of debt. The only reason we had several cards was that we floated our balance at zero interest for about 3 – 4 years while we paid it down. We actually quit using the cards a couple of years prior to this.
We were fortunate that neither one of us liked paying interest or dealing with bills from several different card companies. After the first year of marriage we decided ‘debt spending’ was bad: we were about $4500 in debt at the time on cards. Afterwards, about all we ever used the cards for was buying presents for Christmas or birthdays so that the other person wouldn’t know what they were getting (we both balance our checkbook, so debit transactions made this difficult). But now we just use cash, so it’s pretty simple. For online purchases, we each have a debit card and a small account that we transfer money into each month: presto! Surprise gift giving done without credit cards AND on a budget.
The thing is, I don’t think easy credit is all that easy anymore. It’s easier to work with cash, and long term my goal is to have a credit score of zero (i.e. no report). A key element to success is having a budget where every dollar is planned and spent on paper before the month begins. In the first few years of marriage, we’d routinely drive our checkbook ledger balance negative up to a hundred bucks at times, praying the paycheck would hit before the latest debit transaction hit and/or relying on a line of credit as overdraft protection. Now I tend to forget when paydays are since I know that I CANNOT overdraft my account as long as I stay with my budget. Even on those rare occasions when my computation of our checking balance is in error, I won’t bounce a thing because I haven’t spent money I don’t have.
My mother-in-law who is such a nice person lives in another mindset. She thinks she cannot live without a credit card and borrowing has been a way of life for her and my father-in-law. They borrowed money for a $30,000 SUV (now paid off, fortunately), for time-shares in Hawaii, for Christmas presents, etc. They would have eventually been able to dig their way out except, sadly now, my FIL has been diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s (age 54) and lost his job. He’s on Social Security disability, but their financial situation is delicate. One more major blow or a few minor ones and they’re going to have to sell bunch of stuff quickly to keep above water. I know this because the other day she found out that they were going to have to pay $150 for him to take a driving test to see if he is still able to drive. In an email to the family, she said, “Thank goodness I have a credit card or we couldn’t do this.” ‘Scuse me? You’re in your mid-50s and can’t come up with $150 cash after 30 years in the working world? I love them to death, but they’ve fallen for the “can’t live without borrowing” mindset that has them in hock up to their eyeballs. I pray they change their mindset and lives soon because as his disease progresses little ‘emergencies’ like this one are going to get more and more frequent. Now they will not only have to deal with the stress of being a single-income family/at home caretaker situation, they’ll have debts to pay. The lesson I learned is you can never predict the future, and that’s what credit cards (and other borrowing) tries to do. “I’ll pay for it later…” but what if later you’re in a crisis like theirs? We help out as best we can, but I am very concerned for them.
Peace of mind is much nicer than pieces of plastic. I leave the ‘rewards’ programs to people who like stress.