Debt is such a bad word - kinda like saying stupid. I tell my kids all the time "don't say that word!"
I have analyzed our debt situation, and have a few goals:
House: Refinanced 2008, not going to worry about putting extra on it to pay it off until the following other things get done -
My Car: will be paid off in March '10
Husbands Truck: will be paid off in April '10
Boat: currently at a not-so-lovely interest rate, when car and truck get paid off, will refi at the credit union and then work our butts off to pay it off in a couple of years or less if we can manage
Computer: relatively new, old one crashed, balance is about 1000, will pay off with tax return
Currently our budget is very tight, it drives us nuts sometimes, but, we don't mind too much because we know that 2 of our cars will be paid off very, very soon, and when that happens, that will be 650 of new 'wiggle room' to put more into savings and into eliminating the boat debt. We also never use credit cards, and haven't used them in about 3 years now. If you ever me whip out a vise, it's the debit card, not the credit card. We agreed a long time ago that we would rather pay cash than put it on a visa/mc/discover, etc. My husband was looking at our home one day and was making mention of how other homes are so modernly decorated with beautiful carpet and fancy furnishings, my comment was "yeah, but I wonder what their credit card bill looks like." Enough said there -
I am a decent budgeter, and am relatively creative in how to save a few bucks, but even I have moments of weakness that can be difficult to get under control from time to time. When things get hairy, I just have to take a step back, look at the big picture, then pull the 'ol bootstraps up and get to work again.
I use credit cards for just about everything I have to buy or know I can pay off at the end of the month. I use credit cards that accumulate Points so I can get free things that help immensely later. The key is pay the card off and don't pay interest.
ReplyDeleteFor those who are interested in good Christian fiction, you might want to check my blog post of today and yesterday
Lee
http://tossingitout.blogspot.com/
Using credit cards to accumulate points is a slippery slope for those of us who don't have the self-control to curb our spending and stay within a budget. Kudos to those who can pay off the CC each month! But for those of us who struggle with debt-free living, I advise us to cut up the cards and forget they even exist.
ReplyDeleteI agree that if one has a problem controlling their spending then owning a credit card is a risky proposition. My point is that there are certain expenditures that one must make (phone, groceries -- any expenditures that would be coming out of your bank acct anyway) can be put on one of these point accumulating cards and one can reap additional benefits. Years ago I went through bankruptcy and learned my lesson about debt.
ReplyDeleteLee
http://tossingitout.blogspot.com/
Perhaps a safer alternative to using CCs would be to use a bank such as mine, that gives 1% cash back every time you swipe your debit card. The bank does this to encourage debit card use instead of writing checks. They pass much of the savings from processing paper checks back to the customer. I pay all of my bills via my debit card and get a modest sum back credited back to my account each month. By using a debit card instead of a CC I don't risk running up debt, thus paying interest and negating any "rewards" I earn.
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