This past month Dan’s work started offering Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University. Since we both love to listen to his radio show, we were excited to take the class.
I thought putting together a budget and sticking to it would be the hardest thing he could ask me to do. Mind numbing work, but doable. Here was the request tonight: Cut up all your credit cards.
That stopped me in my tracks. And I don’t know why. We only have two credit cards with very small limits. We have never carried a balance on either card. In fact, last year we switched exclusively to our debit card so my credit cards are actually sitting in a drawer in my filing cabinet. So why am I so hesitant to cut them up?
I get the cash-only system, and though I’m hesitant about carrying cash, I’m willing to try it out. I totally understand that people spend between 12-18% more when they use a card (because that is so me!). So why am I so scared to get rid of my plastic? Can’t I just keep them in the drawer and forget about them? Isn’t that good enough? Or is this a leap of faith in taking control of our financial life? Maybe it doesn’t matter at all and we just keep on going the way we were.
I honestly don’t have the answer, and am not sure if I will get one soon. Maybe I’ll have one at the end of this week when we have to report at the next class, maybe not until the end of the course, or maybe never. Gah….Bring on the budget! I would prefer that any day!
I do like to keep one credit card available for online purchases. We don't use it much, but I feel it is safer for online use than a debit card. It really is nice to not rely on credit though.
ReplyDeleteDo it!!! Cut up those credit cards! Some day you might slip and use it and get sucked in like the rest of the world! (Sigh) that was a little dramatic but I'm a Dave Ramsey fan too. We've never been credit card people and the only thing we've missed out on because of it is debt and renting cars. We do a strict budget and still use debit cards, not cash. We tried cash and it really helped us not spend as much. But it required a weekly bank run. That was hard to do so we're using the card now and keeping track on paper.
ReplyDeleteI hope that awesomeness comes your way through all this. Congrats!!