To Live With Or Without Credit Cards

To live with or without credit cards is in the news more now than ever with the recent credit problems.

This morning my dh sent me a link for an article he thought I would enjoy called Seven Secrets Of Living Without A Credit Card.

During last year’s Black Friday shopping, about half as many consumers paid with plastic as had the previous year, according to America’s Research Group. And credit card ownership dropped to 67 percent in 2010 from 71 percent in 2008. .. Those are interesting facts.

We have chosen to no longer rely on credit cards to live. We live on a real budget for the first time in our marriage. In the past their was always the budget, which really meant paying the bills. But in the past if we wanted to go to dinner and cash was low we put it on one of our many credit cards. If we wanted to take off to Las Vegas to celebrate our wedding anniversary and New Years Eve no need to save up for it, we would just charge it and plan to pay if off. Of course the Las Vegas trip was not paid off by the end of the month so the debt came home with us. What kind of a vacation is that.

Here is the seven secrets .. go to the article to read it in full.


You’ll spend less... Well that is a no brainer for us. If the cash has run out there is no reason to go out to dinner or buy something we really do not need. Makes us think twice about our money and where we want it to be spent.

You’ll probably save more .. if we do not have that credit card as our emergency cushion
we come with ways to live on less and save more. We are setting our priorities and hoping to be an example for family members.

Renting a car is more of a hassle .. okay some car companies will want to put a hold on your debit account but if we do not have the extra money in our bank account then why are we traveling and renting a car.

Ditto for getting an apartment or a house .. okay with no credit card debt your credit score may not be as high. You may have to do more work to show your income and financial business but that is worth more to me than being slave to the credit card companies. Hubby and sure sleep better at night.

You can always go back.. that is true you give up the credit cards for years. You can always go back to get a credit card. Weekly we get credit card offers with 0 interest for a year. No thank you credit card company I no more want to go back to being in debt to you than I want to start smoking or drinking again. I care about my financial health as much as I do my physical health.

Not everyone thinks it’s smart to live on cash and not have a credit card. It is believed that we can not control our selves. Well okay there were times we could not control our selves. Anyone you carries a credit card balance probably can not control them selves. Otherwise it would be paid off at the end of the month. It is a known fact that if a credit card is used more money is spent.

There’s a psychological benefit to having a credit card. We use to think of the credit cards as an emergency fund. Now we work at living on less and putting money into a savings account for our emergency fund.

So could you live with or without credit cards?

We can and do .
Yes we do not go traveling like we use to.
We do not go out to eat 3 to 5 times a week.
But we do not owe any credit card company.
We are eating better and less and both of us sleep better every night.

thanks for stopping by... lets keep saving together and please remember
Never under estimate the value of a small amount of money... Grace