Well, we finally did it! We literally froze our credit cards this morning. My husband and I went over our budget and finances and decided we've give it a try. It kinda makes me nervous in a way because we are so dependent on our plastic cards, that carrying cash could be even harder for me. For one thing if I see the cash in my wallet, I'm most likely to spend it. But then again, if I use our credit card, it's hard to know where our money is going and how much we are spending together....until the bill comes in the mail. So, here goes nothing! I went to CVS this morning with Pudge, and forgot to go to the bank beforehand. I opened my wallet to pay, and I had no credit card to pay with!! I almost had the cashier put everything back, but then I remembered I could use my debit card if necessary.
It was kinda embarrassing, but at the same time helped me remember to be careful about where I'm spending our money. Granted it was only $1.50, but everything counts.
I'm curious, do you live without credit cards, and use cash only? Or have you even frozen your credit cards and how did that work out for you?
Oh my goodness--I could/would never do this! We only use rewards-based credit cards, so it's like free money every time we buy something. That's a perk that cash can never give us! Plus, I just never remember to carry cash! I would be up the creek ALL the time. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteThanks Joanna! We use Discover and they kinda have a rewards program. We will still have our credit working for us. We'll just use it to automatically pay bills. So that's in our favor there. We'll see how it goes! :)
ReplyDeleteI've always been good at paying off my credit card balance every month. I use my Discover card so I can get Cash Back Bonus, I feel that's like getting a discount on everything I buy. I did use cash yesterday at the 5 stores I went to but I'd rather not deal with cash. I always end up with a pocketful of ones and coins at the end of my trip!
ReplyDeleteWe've been using cash for almost a year now after taking Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University class. We have made so much financial growth... My hubby was even able to take a lower-paying job to be home more after trimming our spending and paying off so much debt. No more credit cards for us. Not worth it! :)
ReplyDeleteWe were also paying off each credit card bill at the end of each month, but lately we've been dipping into our savings to pay it off. And that's not what we want to do. We also have the rewards card, but it just doesn't seem to pay off in the end.
ReplyDeleteAfter going to Dave Ramsey Financial Peace University we only use cash, and never go over our budget. When the cash runs out for a particular category we are DONE for the month. But it works, we have paid off 27,000 dollars of debt this past 10 months on a modest income. Rewards programs on cards on NOT worth it because you will still spend more when you use a credit card then when you pay cash. We finally learned that if we had to use saving or a credit card than we could not afford it!
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