Need strength to stop using credit cards

[North of Mouse]

I hid mine in an old iPod box. The cut-out for the iPod is the perfect size for all my cards I refuse to use now. Charging is so addicting because it's available money! Just get them paid off and keep them for emergencies.

That may well work for you, but some people can't handle the temptation. It's probably best for people like the OP that have been this route before, NOT to have any cards. It IS possible - just have to bite the bullet and do it.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

That may well work for you, but some people can't handle the temptation. It's probably best for people like the OP that have been this route before, NOT to have any cards. It IS possible - just have to bite the bullet and do it.

Could also go with a pre-paid card (probably recommended already) that they add cash to now & then. That way you still have one for room reservations & such, but you can't really run a balance up on it. Even if you have to pay a $4 fee now & then to renew it, it's cheaper than interest

 

[Tgtown]

When you do order something on line pay it off as soon as it shows on your cc on line. Don't wait till the end of the month. I'll charge my groceries and come home and pay it off just for the rewards.

Denise in MI

This is what I do. As soon as I make a purchase and it posts I make a payment. If nit I have a tendency to forget.

 

[tpartcart]

When I am surfing the web, if not on here, I often listen to Dave Ramsey's broadcast online. He is a great motivator when it comes to debt and budgeting.

 

[Owlpost23]

Something we've done for years,and STILL wish we had done it sooner is get another checking account that is linked to your current checking account.Get the debit/credit card for it,and use it ONLY for travel or online purchases.Since it works like a debit card,you can keep only a certain amount in it for purchases.You can transfer money back and forth between accounts.It's been a godsend for us because you purchase things online,but it is immediately debited from the account.Best of both worlds.

 

[hsmamato2]

sounds like OP needs to NOT use cc's at all. Why do I say this? b/c cc's don't use themselves,and balances don't build by themselves. The problem is not the piece of plastic,it's the person using it foolishly. Nope, it is not smart to buy things you can't afford to pay off.
Especially since OP knows they've done it in the past....keep away!
Try using just a simple budget plan,and a debit card. Perhaps keep one cc in a closet somewhere for trips,or emergencies.
Why not use cash? If you have enough $$$ to buy items using a cc and paying it off each month (with no fees) then you should be able to afford that same amount using straight cash. And when the cash is gone,your spending is done,till there's more. Couldn't be simpler.

 

[a1tinkfans]

My DH and I had all of our credit cards paid off and were good for a while and somehow they got built up again . How does that happen ?
We are going to pay them off and then need the strength to stop using them as much as possible. My DH already took his out of his wallet and now it is my turn . Has anybody else done this and been successful? I want to buy a new car and can't afford to make the credit card payments and a car payment so I have to be real strong here. I figured I could get some good encouragement from all my disboard pals.

put it out of sight and get a pix of that car you yearn for and put it in your credit card slot in your wallet................

 

[hanutedmansionmomma]

Do you have a budget? If not, make one and stick to it.
It can be something as simple as a column or two in Excel - put the amount of money you have for the month at the top and keep deducting the expenses. If you know you have to spend $100 next week for bills, subtract the $100 already. As you see the balance dwindle, you know you have to cut back.

Yes! Keep track of everything you're spending for a month, then make your budget. You will probably be suprised at how much you spend on things you don't need.


So learn how to use excel - especially the graph feature - so motivating! and get your scissors out for the cards.

Good luck

 

[runwad]

OP what I used to do was every time I charged I wrote it in my checkbook register and deducted from my balance:

balance---------------------------100
Target Visa pay't 1-----10 bal 90
Grocery Visa Pay't 2----20 bal 70

.....and so on, so when I got my visa bill the money had already been deducted from my checking account and I'd just go back to all my entries and add the same check number that I paid the Visa. My DH could never understand how I did this, and I went thru a lot of check registers, but I always had the money at the end of the month to pay my Visa bill.

I don't have to do that anymore and charge everything for rewards and pay off my cards in full every month. Good luck!!

 

[robsmom]

Some people go "cold turkey" with their credit cards in order to eliminate debt. You can call all of them and ask for the accounts to be frozen while you pay them down. That way, you CAN'T add to them.

In fact, you might want to freeze them with the intention of closing them once the balance is paid off. It will keep you from repeating this cycle over and over again.

If going credit card free is too scary for you, you can also ask the banks to lower your credit limits so that you cannot charge more than you can handle.

You know that you have it in you to get this done because you've done it before. Good luck doing it again.

I say freeze them literally. Close out all but one card. Keep it for emergency purposes only and freeze it in a block of ice in your freezer. Do not write the number down or keep it already loaded in amazon, etc. If you need it in an emergency you have to wait for the ice to melt. This makes you think before you use it.

 

[mrodgers]

When you do order something on line pay it off as soon as it shows on your cc on line. Don't wait till the end of the month. I'll charge my groceries and come home and pay it off just for the rewards.

Denise in MI

This is exactly what I do. I recently paid off the CC bills and now am using the CC for rewards paying for gas and every bill that I can pay with a CC. I was logging on online and paying it as soon as I spent it, except.....

Mind you, I still use my CC but I keep detailed records on my spreadsheet and ensure the money is paid back promptly right away or the next pay cheque period.

.... after the first 2 weeks of paying bills with the CC, then immediately paying the CC amount online, I found out I can only do 5 online payments per month. That doesn't work when paying bills every week and using a 2nd account to pay just gas and groceries. I ended up with 5 online payments in the 3rd week and still had another pay transaction to do.

Since my budget per week is laid out elaborately in Excel, I now added a line for each bank account to tally up what was paid with a CC (gas/groceries/extra in one account, all monthly bills in another account.) I then take the money out of the checkbook each week, but skip weeks paying the actual amount on the CC site. This week I pay for last week and this week's gas/groceries from one checking account. Next week I will pay this week and next week's monthly bills that I pay from the other account.

The amounts that need to be sent to the CC are taken out of each account in the checkbook register though, so we don't think there is money available when there really isn't. The elaborate budget spreadsheet I created that automatically distributes all the money based on formulas after I enter my paycheck info (future paychecks are budgeted extremely low in the spreadsheet) makes it all easy to track.

 

[MomToOne]

Id get rid of all cards, expect one that you lower to a $1000 and put in a safty deposit box for traveling (which I do, incase we have some kind of serious car trouble or money stolen....etc) then it wont be easy access.

I don't suggest this - it woudl most likely result in a drastic lowering of your credit rating. Pay off your cards, then leave them at home if you have impulse control issues. Freeze them in a block of ice if you need to force yourself to have a "cooling off" period before you can use them for any purchase.

I am also in the track-your-spending group. I track every penny I spend every month. The goal obviously is to spend less than you take in. That's not always possible every month - unexpected expenses do come up - but other months you should be putting money into savings, so it all evens out in the long run.

 

[NYCDiane]

I know it's extremely difficult to stop using the plastic -- I'm in that same struggle right now! I've already paid off 5 cards and am paying down the rest (smaller balance cards will be paid in full one per month).

Anyway --- the best way to stop using them? CUT THEM IN PIECES! Then you can't use them even if you want to!!!! If you absolutely MUST keep one "for emergencies", keep the one with the lowest APR and ONLY use it for a true emergency and then pay it off quickly.

I remember about 11 years ago how good it felt to pay off all my cards and then sit there at the table cutting them in pieces --- I ruined my scissors and had a huge pile of shredded up plastic. It felt better than putting them in a shredder, though. How I got myself back into credit card debt is beyond me. Never again, though!

 

[disneychrista]

Cut the cards up and then you wont be able to use them.

If you do not have the money in the bank, then you don't have the money to buy whatever you want.

 

[marie1203]

It doesn't seem that you can handle using the cc right now so get rid of them. Cut them up, shred them or do whatever you want so you can't use them but don't close it. I go through our statement avery monday and pay it off and fill in the number for the week in our budget sheet. But until you feel you can't control you expending get rid of them before you get yourself into more trouble.

 

[SandrA9810]

This is how I did my budget in the past. Each month I would write out every paycheck date, and then go through the bills and put them under the week that they were due. Most the cards were connected to the bank account, and could view the bill through the bill pay service. After I spread out the payments, I set up the bill pay for each bill due. I think only two had to be paid in person, cable and electric.

There were three accounts set up. The paycheck was automatically split into two accounts. A set amount for the rent into one account, and accumulated till the end of the month. The second account the paycheck went into was tied to the bill pays. Paychecks went in thursday, bills came out friday morning. The third account was the debit card account. In no way were any of the accounts tied together, there was no overdraft protection or anything like that.

So account 1: rent payment
account 2: bills
account 3: spending

They were all with the same bank, so I could transfer money in between them if I called. I kept track with the excel file, so on thursday I knew how much I could transfer to the spending account. Ohh, and NEVER pay at the pump, always prepay inside.

 

[MarkC]

Some good advice, but there's one glaring common thing that many people are saying which is the WORST advice at all.

DO NOT, and I repeat, DO NOT, cancel ANY cards! Cancelling cards hurts your credit score!!

I hate hearing the "cancel your cards", as many people giving out this credit advice are uninformed about how your credit score works.

Not only will cancelling your cards lower your score, but it may prevent you from getting a card when you need it later on down the road for legitimate charges or even getting a mortgage or a reasonable car loan. While credit score calculations are in the form of algorithms that cant be breaken down to an exact number, they all share several traits - one of which is your score is automatically lowered if you dont have a major credit card open (such as a MC, Visa, or AmEx), in addition, closing major credit cards stops the growth of the average age of your accounts, thereby hindering any growth or stability.

Also DO NOT, and I repeat DO NOT, ask to lower your credit line. This, too, lowers your credit score. Your credit line should be roughly four times what you normally charge in one month (i.e., if you have legitimate charges of $1000 monthly, the minimum credit line you should have is $4000). If you opt for a credit line of 2K, for example, the credit agencies will see you utilizing 50% of your "revolving credit" available to you, and find you to be a high risk.

If you really have a control problem with spending on your card - simply cut them up. You cant use them if they're damaged. The account will still be valid, you just wont be able to make any purchases until you recieve a functional card in the mail.

If simply cutting your cards isnt going to work, do not take the advice of anybody on this board (sorry guys!), but instead, go see a credit specialist who can give far better advice to help you out! Your credit score is just as important, if not more, than simply your current balance on your credit card, and it needs to be treated as such.

 

[MarkC]

T. Ohh, and NEVER pay at the pump, always prepay inside.

Why? It should make no difference. The only thing paying at the pump will do is put a $75 hold against your card for five days, but that shouldnt be a make or break situation. Paying at the pump is not only convienent, but is also the most secure form to pay for fuel as it ensures that nobody sees your credit card number other than you and the computer (versus having a gas station employee run your card through).

 

[Owlpost23]

Paying at the pump is NOT secure! That's where cards get skimmed most easily.Go inside.

 

[QVCshopper]

I also think it is extremely important to set up an emergency fund or have savings that you can rely on instead of your credit cards. Something will come up--it always does--so it's a good idea to have the money set aside.

Just this month, I had to pay nearly $2k for the birth of my daughter and $500 in car repairs. If I didn't have the savings, I'd be relying on cards and then have them racked up. Instead, we prepared for months for the medical bills and have the money to pay them right off. Also, I've cut back my other spending this month to combat the two other big bills. We have eaten almost every meal at home and have not spent much otherwise.