putting the credit cards away

[ChristyJ]

Except for gas and medical co-pays that pop up, as of Sept. 1st we've put away the credit cards.

Any tips from those of you who don't use credit cards?

This is gonna be slightly tough for me as I'm used to using them on a regular basis (although we pay the bill off each month). I know it will feel good to see minimal amounts on the bills that come in though!

 

[tinkerlisa]

I put mine in our safe. My husband to be has the ONLY KEY!!!
We use only one credit card and that is the DISNEY VISA! It is tempting to use especially with X-mas around the corner but we are really trying to scrimp for our trip next Sept!

 

[dvcgirl]

We use CCs for nearly all of our purchases, month in and month out and pay them off monthly. Why do you feel the need to get rid of them if you have control over your spending? Are you trying to follow the Ramsey plan? Just curious.

 

[tinkerlisa]

Honestly, at one point i did not have control over my spending! I have a good hold over it now and I want to keep it that way. We put all our bills on one card and we pay it off every month. I hate seeing a "high bill" so keeping our bills on one card helps me control my spending on unneccesary things! And I feel better knowing that the points from the Disney Visa can go towards another vacation!

 

[tinkerlisa]

We use CCs for nearly all of our purchases, month in and month out and pay them off monthly. Why do you feel the need to get rid of them if you have control over your spending? Are you trying to follow the Ramsey plan? Just curious.

What is the Ramsey Plan anyway? Just curious.

 

[eliza61]

What is the Ramsey Plan anyway? Just curious.

Dave Ramsey is a popular financial Guru. He's published a lot of books and has a cable tv show. Many people here have done his money make over and swear by it. He wasn't my cup of tea but you can google him and get an idea.

I use my cc's for every thing and pay it off at the end of the month. I like getting the airfare points

 

[campingdude]

Just be sure you actually put the credit cards away aka... don't carry them with you. I'll second the Dave Ramsey plan to an extent. I don't agree with all of it but the majority is good advice.

 

[Moeluv4u7]

We haven't used CC's in over 8 yrs- (I am very temted to pick up the Disney Visa though- just for the perks-)
& right before I closed out our CC's I started paying balance in full every month- I figured if I couldn't fit the purchase into my monthly budget- I couldn't get it- Was very hard at first- Especially if I ran into a major sale- Start using store layaway if you really can't pass an item up- Most will allow you to lay-a-way sale items as well- I use my bank card (debit/visa) for any ordering I do and it must be in my account or I don't get it- I do admit that we have a few different accounts now- Which I also did when we closed out all cards- When I decided to do this I started an account w/ $200- I figured for just in case co-pays, and such I would use the seperate account- and every month I have 20% of my salary added to it- We also did the same w/ DH's pay into another account- (both are checking accounts that we did not order checks for) We also have an actual savings and a money market (which is never supposed to be touched except for extreme needs- i.e. major home repairs, unexpected appliance replacement, etc) We don't stick to a strict budget per se but I learned to shave some expenses that were unnecessary- i.e. mags that are seldom or never read, lunch at work being a take out Chili's or Applebee's, now is lunch from home & maybe once a week I get my fav salad at Chili's (Quesadilla Explosion) the immense amount of food trips we made to grocery store for "extras", every time we stopped at gas station we saw that we spent for more than gas! That one was really the worse & now we keep a small cooler in the back of my van w/ juices and such, always grab a snack bag of something from the house when we go shopping and that ended the quick stop "extras"-(I will also buy a family pack of gum and such to keep for shopping trips out since the kids will still ask for that) We also don't eat out or order in as much as we used to-If you are willing to cut back on a few splurges you can do it! Oh! & we have 5 kids so our extra spending was outrageous! Even $1- a person for a bag of chips & $1.50 for a drink ended up being crazy money-
the next thing you have to do, when you start doing this, whatever it was that you would have spent on that "splurge" add it to the "relief account"- after a while you will see how much "OMG!" money you were spending that you didn't need to- Good Luck!

 

[tinkerlisa]

I use my cc's for every thing and pay it off at the end of the month. I like getting the airfare points[/QUOTE]

thats what i do. only i have to many cards and thats why i put all but one away!

 

[tinkerlisa]

that is great advice about the food thing. we were eating out at least twice a week and spending so much there! now its down to Dunkin Donuts once a week and no take out food. we bring our own! we saved a lot of money by doing just that alone!
we also started a savings jar for things we sell that we dont need anymore. we take all our kids old clothes to consigment and put the money away!

 

[minnie1928]

I use my cc's for every thing and pay it off at the end of the month. I like getting the airfare points

thats what i do. only i have to many cards and thats why i put all but one away![/QUOTE]

I carry one CC and put all my gas/groceries/etc. stuff on it and pay it off at the end of the month with money I've already put aside to pay for these items. The other positive thing about carrying 1 CC is that if I lose my wallet, I know exactly which card was lost No calling 8 different companies to report it lost.

I like the cash back points too !

 

[tinkerlisa]

LOL I never thought about the lost wallet thing but you are right!!! That is crazy trying to get your life back on track after losing your wallet. My soon to be neice had her car broken into and all her stuff was stolen! including a bunch of CC's and her license! She was trying to put her life back in order when it happened again! twice in a period of like 5 months!

 

[Moeluv4u7]

LOL I never thought about the lost wallet thing but you are right!!! That is crazy trying to get your life back on track after losing your wallet. My soon to be neice had her car broken into and all her stuff was stolen! including a bunch of CC's and her license! She was trying to put her life back in order when it happened again! twice in a period of like 5 months!

Oh Wow! That really has to hurt- Talk about the headache!

 

[irish_trip_mom]

I have "check ID" on the back of all my credit cards....and I couldn't find my license over the weekend, so I couldn't go spend! Yes, there are some places that I wouldn't have to show my ID, but to go do some major damage, I'd have to have both the card and the ID!

I am a self-admitted Target addict (call it the Mothership!) What I am trying to do now with my free time (now that the kids are in school) is fill my days with projects around the house...painting, gardening, sewing, etc.

 

[tinkerlisa]

Lol My addiction was WALMART! I would end up going there 2-3 times a week. Now when I go, its once a month and its a BIG shopping trip. I get all my neccesities: Diapers, Wipes cleaning supplies, if we need any OTC medicines, all in one trip. that way i am not wasting gas either!
and it helps to have a list and stick to it! and to "fill up" free time i have, i work out now, weed my garden, and my scrapbook!

 

[DMickey28]

I am having a hard time putting my amex away. I am trying sooo hard. I keep looking at the budget and seeing what I have to pay it off with next month and use it. Then next month when I have to pay the bill I have less than I thought and I get pissed off!! The Amex (or any CC that you need to pay off every month) is a vicious cycle and I can't seem to break it. I have a vet bill i need to use it for this week but otherwise it's done ... I swear....

 

[monorailsilver]

Good luck to you!

I so far have not used my CC's since August 5th when I checked into the Poly.

I need to pay them off! I do keep them on me for that extreme emergency but I have been super good & I won't shop if I don't have money right now.

So the first month wasn't so bad.

 

[tinkerlisa]

It is hard trying not to use them. Most people think that its free money at first. Then that first bill comes...

 

[KristinU]

I haven't used CCs in over a year and a half. Ramsey follower here - cash is king for me and on the pay periods that I'm too lazy to get cash to stock my envelopes and use my debit card instead, I definitely see that I spend more and I'm not as cautious as when I have to hand over those little green pictures of presidents.

My parents and my good friend are both poster children for the "pay it off for the points" game - both have had the "lost payment" issue and have been smacked with finance charges because of the CC company's problem. Not worth the hassle of the points, IMHO. Sometimes I am really tempted, but then remember the fiascos that they've been through and also remember that I spend less so I end up ahead of the points game anyway.

I also like the identity protection that cash affords. No worries when a big grocery chain's database gets compromised.

How do I make online purchases? I'm not nuts about using our "main" acocunt's debit card, so I keep a linked account at our CU that we keep a little $ in - I just transfer $ to it electronically when I want to make a purchase. I also have a similar setup at ING - all of the $ for our various funds is in seperate savings accounts and when I want to buy something I just move the $ electronically and instantly to the ING electric orange debit card and complete the transaction. An extra step that sounds complicated, but really isn't.

 

[XYSRUS]

If you're disciplined enough to buy within your means and pay off the CC every month, there's no reason not to use one-especially one that give cash/credit back. My Blue Cash from Am Ex is great! No limit on the cash back. But, if one needs to do cash to be able to realize where all the money goes to, well do that then until you get yourself under control. My little one even told the grocery store clerk that "I cannot get that b/c Mommy ran out of money." -meaning I was at my self imposed limit for that month. My kids know to stop whining when I say I'm out of money. Then they start again in a few days!