Yes, in today’s world it might seem drastic, but it is possible to live without any form of credit card at all. I cut up my regular visa a couple of months ago, and it has been alright. But we can do more. With my new job, I am waiting to see what my take home pay is after insurance is taken out. But if it is anything close to what I hope it is, our budget will allow us to be completely debt free (except the house) fairly soon. When I did the math in January, we calculated 2 years to be debt free. It might take a little longer than that, but in the grand scheme of things, it still isn’t bad.

What does all this have to do with you? Well, more than you would think, actually. One of the reasons people find it so hard to get out of debt is that they want to spend time with their friends doing fun stuff. Fun stuff usually costs money. And they don’t have any money. So they “borrow” just a little, just this once…and the cycle starts again. We don’t want to get into that habit again.

As we begin the process of eliminating debt (blasted student loans!), we will likely decline to participate in any activities that are not in our budget. As of right now, that is pretty much everything. As we get our debt under control, we can start to make small allowances for other activities. Please be understanding and cooperative if you have a show or a sporting event you want to go to, as we will likely not be able to attend for a while…unless admission is free-ninety-five.

Why cut up the card, though? What will that do? Well, it helps in the discipline, keeps us on track. We will pay all of our utility bills online, and we will withdraw cash for groceries, household goods, and childcare expenses. We have actual envelopes that will hold all of our funds for the month, and if an envelope runs out…there is no “borrowing” from another one. We can evaluate how much is in each envelope at the end of the month, and if some categories are short and others are alright, we can shuffle the money around.

Here’s to getting debt free! WOOHOO!!!