Why we no longer have a Credit Card

Firstly let me just say thank you to Scott Pape, the Barefoot Investor for giving us the final nudge we needed to cut the credit cards up. I “opened Scott’s wallet” (virtually obviously), where he gives some very sensible financial advice. The piece of advice that excited me the most was to get rid of the credit card.

Now the hubby and I have been seriously considering giving the credit card up for ages but a few things were holding us back.
“What about the credit card rewards points? We could totally get enough points to go to New York with the kids” – Ummmm no, there is no way this was ever going to happen.
“Let’s keep it just in case we need it for an emergency” – isn’t that what our emergency savings is for?
“It’s only a small amount! We’ll just use if for bills and absolute necessities.” – yeah like concert tickets and online shopping!!!!

What we came to realise is that we are not like the financially illuminated folks that can “hack” their credit card and its rewards/interest free period programs. And most people aren’t. It is a matter of doing what is right for you personally.

And here is what I have worked out is right for us and may help some others out too.

PATIENCE minus a CREDIT CARD = MORE MONEY & PEACE OF MIND

You see even though we like to think of ourselves as a frugal family, having a credit card always gave us a false sense security financially. Then at the end of the month there was always the “Oh shit! I didn’t realise we spent that much money on the C/C this month!”

Without a credit card you are able to track your spending in real time. And if you want those Alpaca moccasins you’ve seen online you may actually have to wait and save for them. Hmmmmm wait and save…….what an old fashioned concept.

Note – when attempting to cancel your credit cards put aside the adequate amount of time for the banks to make it as hard as humanly possible for you to achieve. They may ask you questions such as “Are you aware that you have 2,000 points left on your rewards?” or “Are you aware that your first born child will be cursed for all eternity if you cancel this credit card?”. Proceed with your mission as planned, do not be deterred by fear mongering and greed!

This is one happy credit card free Storm Trooper

Comments

The Simplest and Best Chicken Broth

INGREDIENTS 1 whole chicken (free range or organic preferred) 2 carrots, chopped 4 celery stalks, chopped 1 zucchini, chopped 1 onion, chopped 4 cloves of garlic, chopped half a bunch of parsley, chopped 1 tbsp Sea Salt or Pink River Salt Pepper Olive oil METHOD Heat oil in a large saucepan and boil a full kettle. Sauté carrots, celery, zucchini, onion and garlic until lightly brown. Add chicken, parsley stalks and salt to the pan and lightly brown. Pour boiling water in the pan. When the saucepan begins to boil turn the heat down low and put lid on. Simmer for 2-3 hours then remove bones from the chicken. The best way to do this is by pulling the whole carcass out and putting in a large bowl. Then use tongs to take meat off the bone. If you want just broth then leave the chicken out and add the rest of your parsley. If you want to make chicken soup, add the chicken back to the broth. If you’re going the soup option you can add more veggies and ...

Lessons learned from Sovereign Hill

In an effort to gift our children with experiences over stuff we recently took our kids on holiday to Ballarat to visit Sovereign Hill. Instead of getting a 10 th birthday present my son got to choose where we went on holiday this year, so off to Ballarat we went last weekend. Taking your kids on a holiday isn’t exactly more frugal than buying them a birthday present, however we were looking for somewhere to go for a few nights getaway and Sammy got to make the choice. And we are so grateful that he chose Sovereign Hill! So we drove 7 hours in our Honda Civic which costs a total $60 for petrol to get there and packed our own lunch, snacks and drinks. Pretty cheap way to get to another state! We also stayed in a cabin that wasn’t super cheap (say compared to camping) but allowed us to make our own meals. The cabin also had the added benefits of heating (it was 8 degrees!) and it was a 300 metre walk to Sovereign Hill. For those of you that don’t know what Sovereign...

Rest, Me Time and Self-Care

With Mother’s Day just gone the topic of rest, me time and self-care are an important topic for us all to talk about. As Mother’s we are told how valuable and integral we are to our families. And that is completely true, however I think it has led us to believe that our families are unable to survive without us. Even for a couple of hours. And even though, on an intellectual level, we know that our families can survive without us temporarily, how is the guilt? Anyone not feeling it? Well I’m here to tell you that there is nothing, and I mean nothing that is more important than your health, especially your mental health! Rest, me time and self-care are absolutely essential for a Mum’s mental health. In nearly 20 years working as a Naturopath there is one word that is perceived as particularly offensive. Rest. When a person (any person) is struggling physically or emotionally, often rest will be one of the prescriptions. If only I could take photos of people’s face...

SIMPLE HEALTHY FRUGAL

Search This Blog