Skip to main content

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

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Stress and Anxiety

I recently went through a time of acute anxiety which was confusing and very scary. The reason it was confusing was because I had no real reason to be anxious, however it was there and it was very real. My heart would start to race and I’d become extremely anxious about something quite trivial, to the point of tears at times. After a few days of feeling sorry for myself and struggling on I thankfully had one logical thought “I’m going to try as many things that I know help with stress and anxiety and see how I go”. It literally came down to making a list of things that are proven to reduce stress and anxiety. And because I’m pretty sure I’m not the only who suffers from stress or anxiety I’m going to share that list here. Meditation, Breathing and Mindfulness Whether you refer to it as meditation or mindfulness, focusing on the breath for as little as 10 minutes a day can help calm the body drastically. Meditation, mindfulness and other breathing techniques have been prov...
Post a Comment
Read more

Super Frugal Ideas

Every now and then it can be really helpful to do a super frugal challenge. Here are some ideas to get you started. For more visit superfrugaljune.wordpress.com 1.       Cook at home – no dinners out 2.       Menu plan – I cannot tell you how much food and money we have saved just with this simple trick. 3.       Shop the sale items at the grocery store as much as possible 4.       Use the food you already have in the pantry, fridge or freezer before going out and buying more. Yep you know that half jar of curry paste and those cans of god knows what at the back of the pantry. Now there’s an interesting dinner. 5.       Try going alcohol free – damn that stuff is expensive. Can you imagine paying $10 to $20 for 750ml of water? 6.       Walk or ride instead of using your car where ever you can 7.    ...
Post a Comment
Read more