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I put my credit card in the shredder

March 18th, 2016 at 06:48 pm

The house needed some new improvements. Some I was able to get on a new card that they gave me with 0% interest for the life of the loan (5 years.)

Others I had to put on my own credit card because they couldn't offer me such a good deal.

I know myself. Once I have a large amount of money on a card I spend on it recklessly because my old defeatist "I'm never going to pay it off anyway" attitude kicks in.

I was setting up my home office the other day and noticed my credit card in a pile of things I was shredding. I decided to put it in the shredder. I knew I was over spending and I divert bills to this card every month for the points. I knew if I kept it in my wallet I'd keep spending on it.

I lost my debit card a while ago and I never replaced the card so I kept using me credit card for normal things too.

I decided that I'm going to go to the bank to pull out the cash I need when I need it and live like that until the large balance is paid off on my card. Since the card has gotten me into trouble lately I think I won't even request a new one after the balance is paid off. I think I will live on cash for a while until things settle down a bit more and I know I can handle it. Or if I have to make another large purchase and want the cash back.

I need to focus on savings now for the house and to get a new car. I need to focus on making retirement contributions and the possibility of expanding our family maybe. It's time to just smarten up and get some savings going now that I have a mortgage I don't have as much room for error. I really really need a cushion and I know that if I kept that credit card around I would have probably never bothered to build one.

I have other credit cards that don't have a dime on them. This is the only one that seemed to give me issues.

Have any of you had to take drastic measures like this before?

Posted in Budgeting | 8 Comments »

8 Responses to “I put my credit card in the shredder”

  1. greenleaf Says:
    March 18th, 2016 at 10:49 pm 1458341371
    1458341371

    I think the key is knowing yourself and what works psychologically for you. If the card causes you to overspend, then getting rid of it is the right thing to do.

  2. PatientSaver Says:
    March 18th, 2016 at 11:17 pm 1458343068
    1458343068

    I would not shred a card without also calling the customer service phone # on the back of the card to cancel it. Otherwise, it remains open for nothing and exposes you needlessly to identity theft.

  3. ThriftoRama Says:
    March 19th, 2016 at 12:12 am 1458346356
    1458346356

    Wow. I admire your self awareness. We too have switched to getting a set amount of cash out of the ban every week for expenses. It's worked wonders. I don't think we've had this healthy of a budget in years! I wish the same to you.

  4. LivingAlmostLarge Says:
    March 19th, 2016 at 03:25 am 1458357902
    1458357902

    Good job on knowing your triggers. You owe $5k at 24%? Time to balance surf

  5. Permanent Temp Says:
    March 19th, 2016 at 05:31 pm 1458408716
    1458408716

    Patient Saver - It's my oldest card I am not cancelling it I shredded it so I wouldn't increase the balance and never Pat it off also some if my monthly bills go on there for the rewards points. I was paying them every month on time but then I had an emergency and no cash to cover it so I put it on the cars. That triggered the extra spending that I've now cur off by shredding it.

  6. Permanent Temp Says:
    March 19th, 2016 at 05:35 pm 1458408917
    1458408917

    Wow don't comment on the phone apparently stupid auto correct. Pay it off not pat it off and put it on the card not put it on the cars.

  7. Permanent Temp Says:
    March 19th, 2016 at 05:43 pm 1458409414
    1458409414

    LivingAlmostLarge- Luckily I'm in a nice spot right now after all these repairs are done. I'm hoping to pay it off in 3-4 months if not sooner so there's no need to transfer the balance. I won't helping to be make the first mortgage payment til May so I'll have some time to catch up. It's going to be really tight but I can swing it.

    When I paid off my card in 2013 I told myself that was the last time I was going to live with a revolving balance that ate up interest for no reason and I meant it. I'm going to do whatever I have to do to minimize the amount of interest I pay on this even if its going to be tight for a bit and then I'm going to focus on making another emergency fund. I had had one before but it got depleted by dental work and then never built back up as I continued to pay for dental work and an old medical bill to help my credit before this home buying process along with some initial house expenses. I'm going to shift my focus back to emergency fund building since I have nothing left now and I have a house which is going to need something at some point for sure.

    Once I get to a good spot with the emergency fund I'll allow myself to have the credit card again because with the cushion I will feel more protected and less likely to overspend.

  8. rob62521 Says:
    March 20th, 2016 at 07:55 pm 1458503727
    1458503727

    Good job on your self awareness. I think the cash idea is good because it will be tangible.

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