No Charging!

I charge too much on my credit card. I always have the intention of paying off whatever I charge, plus extra, and it never happens like I want it to.  For that reason, I am going to take my credit card out of my wallet. Out of sight, out of mind. Hopefully.

It’s like a little mini-goal for February, not to charge anything, but subscriptions, that are signed up for autopay.

I have done this a couple of times in the past and somehow the card always made it back into my wallet. I have no self-control and I need to recognize that.

Right now I need to focus on buying what we need, not everything we want.

I have made a very conscious effort to fund our envelopes with how much money we really need, but I have not made the effort to use that cash or even stay within budget. Even when I had some cash, even if it wasn’t enough to cover the whole purchase, I pulled out my credit card and put the purchase on that. That stops now. I’m going to take my credit card out of my wallet so it will no longer be a crutch for me to lean on.

We make great salaries, even for where we live, but we have been living above our means. I’m hoping that by taking the card out of my wallet it will make me rethink my purchases. If I don’t have enough cash I will either have to wait and buy the items when I do or I will have to use my debit card, which means I will have to have the money to pay for said items. Or be willing to transfer the money out of savings to cover the cost. This will at least ensure that the items are paid for outright, not a loan from the credit card company.

This was all prompted because this morning I ran our numbers through a debt free calculator and the numbers weren’t good. In fact, they were abysmal. According to the calculator, at my current rate of payment, about $650 per month, we will be in credit card debt for the next three years. 33 months to be exact. That is NOT. OKAY. And that is assuming nothing else gets charged during that time… Ugh!

I hope by taking the card out of my wallet it will help me to pay attention to what I’m buying. I hope it will make me more aware of where my money is going. I hope it will make an impact on my debt.