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Credit Card Challenge: Using Cash Instead of Plastic

I wanted to share a story from ABC’s Good Morning America did on a family who used cash instead of plastic for 30 days. J and I have been using cash instead of our debit card since starting FPU. I don’t know precisely how much we’ve saved, but I’d say that it is at least the 24% reported in this story. Our experience is a little different since we didn’t have credit cards, but our debit card was a source of overspending. The few instances I have not been able to resist the temptation and spend it’s been online- Amazon saves my debit card information and paypal is directly linked, so if you’re a big online spender like me, be aware of your “virtual” overspending. The use of a budget and Dave Ramsey’s envelope system eliminates the inconvenience of running to the ATM several times during the month identified in this story. J goes to the ATM twice monthly after each payday and withdraws what we’ve budgeted for gas, groceries, and household purchases, and that’s what we spend.

Can you go one month without using plastic?

~Manda

August 24, 2008 | Filed Under Credit Card Use, Dave Ramsey Financial Freedom, Dave Ramsey Financial Peace University (FPU) | Leave a Comment

carnival of money stories blog carnival #39

Wow!, here it is, the Carnival of Money Stories 39th edition. There were a total of 40 submissions to this carnival and there are some really great articles. I was notified by the Blog Carnival that this edition of Carnival of Money stories will be featured on the Blog Carnival homepage all day Wednesday the 19th. I am excited and honored to be hosting this weeks carnival and hope that you will enjoy reading the submissions.

Money money money money
Originally uploaded by skettalee

Debt

David presents How to Eliminate Credit Card Debt posted at Worldwide Success.

Pinyo presents My Foray into Prosper as a P2P Lender posted at Moolanomy.

glblguy presents Chase doesn’t really love me they just act like it posted at Gather Little By Little.

Alison presents The Story Of Our Emergency Fund posted at This Wasn’t in The Plan.

Free From Broke presents Family – Can’t Live With ‘Em…Unless It Helps Debt posted at Free From Broke.

monawea presents Why Baby Steps Are So Important – Decision Happen Now, Results Take Time posted at Time To Budget.

Investing

Value Seeker presents Why Most Investors Underperform The Market posted at Stock Investing.

Dereck Coatney presents How To Make A Million Dollars In About 8 Years posted at The Best Stock Trading in the World.

The Investor’s Journal presents Lessons from the Dot-com Bubble posted at The Investor’s Journal.

Super Saver presents Staying Calm In A Volatile Market posted at My Wealth Builder.

FIRE Finance presents Our 7 Mutual Fund Investing Mistakes! posted at FIRE Finance.

Brip Blap presents learning to walk away posted at brip blap.

Pivotal Investor presents Top 10 Growth Stocks For Under $10 posted at Pivotal Investing.

Net Worth

Jacob presents Early Retirement Extreme: On how car dealerships helped me save money posted at Early Retirement Extreme.

Business

Woody Maxim presents What will you do with the message? posted at Woody Maxim.

Blaine presents Something From Nothing- Think Big, Start Small posted at BlainePower.com.

Sutocu presents Domain Name as a Business Brand posted at Your Website Profit.

Silicon Valley Blogger presents How Christmas Can Cost Your Life’s Savings posted at The Digerati Life.

Peter25 presents Building Relationships For Business Growth posted at Business Opportunities.

Blaine presents Business venture is starting to take root posted at BlainePower.com.

Kenton Newby presents Can You Really Make Money Showing People “How To”? posted at KentonNewby.com.

Credit

Credit Help presents Do Capital One Credit Cards Work Abroad? posted at The Truth About CreditCards.com.

Ted presents Using a Credit Card in College posted at The Campus Grotto.

General

FMF presents Sumo Omni: My Son’s Dream Come True (And How You Can Win One) posted at Free Money Finance.

James D. Brausch presents The $200 Horse posted at jamesbrausch.com.

Lynnae presents How Much Emergency Fund Do You Need? posted at beingfrugal.net.

JS presents Six True Stories of People Who Found Cash and Turned it In. Part 2 posted at Smart Money Daily.

paidtwice presents My Lack of Organization Costs Me Money posted at I’ve Paid For This Twice Already….

Ashley presents Why Didn’t I Major in Finance? posted at College of Cash.

supermom_in_ny presents Do You Have Money You Don’t Know About? posted at Getting Out of Debt.

Madison presents Volunteer Income Tax Assistance posted at My Dollar Plan.

Raymond presents Sometimes Saving Money Isn’t Worth The Extra Time and Effort posted at Money Blue Book.

Eden presents What I Have Learned Since Starting My ‘Finance and Fat’ Turnaround posted at Finance and Fat.

Paula presents Sleeping With Money: Going Along for the Ride posted at Queercents.

David presents Customer Service At Its Best – Thanks SmugMug. posted at My Two Dollars.

Blaine presents Frugality, America’s worst nightmare posted at BlainePower.com.

Joshua C. Karlin presents An Amazing Story posted at Marketing & Fundraising Ideas.

Silicon Valley Blogger presents How Christmas Can Cost Your Life’s Savings posted at The Digerati Life.

wilson ng presents No Luggage, No Hand Carrys in the Final Journey of Life posted at Reflections of a BizDrivenLife.

JP presents Being frugal posted at Watch Me Become A Millionaire.

That concludes this edition of the Carnival of Money stories. Submit your articles to the next carnival here.

December 18, 2007 | Filed Under Budgeting, Carnival of Money Stories, Credit Card Use, Financial Planning, Money Management Tips | 14 Comments

Should You Keep Credit Cards Open To Keep Good Credit?

If you have read this blog at all you know that I hate credit cards. I really, really hate credit cards. If my husband and I would have learned about how much credit cards can ruin your life way back when we were newly weds things would be so much different for us now. Since we have decided not to borrow money anymore why should we keep credit cards open?

What I am about to say is not something I think Dave Ramsey would not agree with but I find it the only way I can keep from letting my existing credit card debt take over my life. Despite Dave Ramsey’s suggestion of canceling all credit cards we had decided to leave some open.

The reason we have decided to do this is because banks are cleaver and will find any way they can to get as much money from you as they can. Most credit cards now offer some great interest rates that are worth taking advantage of if the purpose is to transfer an existing balance. However if you happen to be late just one time that great interest rate will no longer exist. Not only will it not exist you will have to live with the high interests rates that are in the 20 percent range.

So what happens when your interest rate is now in the 20 percent range? Your payments jump to 2 to 3 times (maybe more) larger than they were before. Guess what happens when you go from a $200 a month payment to a $400 a month payment? If you are like us there is no way you can make the payment which means the cycle of becoming delinquent starts. The high payments making it impossible for you to pay the entire amount as well as the late fees and overdraft fees you can’t afford to pay either. If you become delinquent on the credit card then you risk getting bad credit scores as well.

At this point any hopes of snowballing your debt becomes almost an impossibility. You are struggling just to make the minimum payment that will never pay your debt down with the high interest rate. So what if you had kept a few credit cards open so that if this scenario where to happen you would be able to transfer your debt to lower interest rate card? If you keep your credit good then you are likely to get a good rate on another card or cards.

We are all human and from it’s possible that one month we forgot to make a payment on time. It’s unfortunate that credit card companies penalize you so heavily for just having one late payment but they do. They do this because they want to get as much money out of you as they can. We can keep from becoming delinquent or paying high interests rates just by playing them at there own game. If you can avoid it don’t let your credit scores get bad so that you can opt to transfer balances when needed.

Now, I am not a personal finance counselor or professional so take my advice with that understanding. I have just found this works for my family. I am not interested in paying the highest interests rates possible on my credit card debt so by keep a few cards open and maintaining good credit I am eliminating that potential.

Remember this is not a “keep credit cards in case of an emergency” situation. We have not used credit cards for purchases in two years and don’t plan on ever doing so. If you are using your credit cards for purchases then STOP. You don’t need credit cards anymore. You need to change the way you are handling your money. But if you keep a few cards open don’t hesitate to get the best interest rate possible so that you can pay that debt off.

October 25, 2007 | Filed Under Credit Card Use, Financial Advice, Financial Freedom Journey Pep Talk | 1 Comment

Remind Yourself You are an Adult

I was reading a story to my son the other day out of his school literature textbook and it reminded me of myself and how I view life at times. The story is Eleven and was written by Sandra Cisneros. In the story there is girl who just turned eleven but doesn’t feel like it. In fact she throughout her birthday she experiences the feeling of being all the ages she already went through but not eleven. She goes through a somewhat traumatic experiences while she was at school on the day of her birthday. The teacher tells her to take home an ugly smelly sweater that wasn’t hers. She tries to tell the teacher that it’s not hers but the teacher basically ignores her. The teacher even tells her to put the smelly sweater on.

This is when I wish I wasn’t eleven, because all the years inside of me – ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two and one -are pushing at the back of my eyes when I put one arm through one sleeve of the sweater that smells like cottage cheese, and then the other arm through the other and stand there with my arms apart like if the sweater hurts me and it does, all itchy and full of germs that aren’t even mine.

The story goes on to say that she couldn’t control her emotions any longer and she starts to cry uncontrollably. Not just tears rolling down her face either.

I’m eleven and it’s my birthday today and I’m crying like I’m three in front of everybody. I put my head down on the desk and bury my face in my stupid clown-sweater arms. My face all hot and spit coming out of my mouth because I can’t stop the little animal noises from coming out of me, until there aren’t any more tears left in my eyes, and it’s just my body shaking like when you have the hiccups, and my whole head hurts like when you drink milk to fast.

Strangely enough I could completely to relate to this story. It’s been a while since I have cried from embarrassment like the girl in the story but many times, in fact probably on a daily basis, I feel as though I am a child still. Sometimes I don’t want to be thirty-something. I just want to be six or thirteen or even eleven again. I don’t want to have to pay bills and have stress over life’s worries. I don’t always want to do house work or any type of work for that matter. Lying in bed all day with a favorite blankie sounds strangely comforting . Then I have to remind myself I am an adult.

I am an adult with responsibilities that are important for myself, my family my country and even the world. Life was never promised to be easy and even though I may feel like reverting back to a child I can’t so I might as well start thinking like an adult. With regards to handling money, I have to remind myself as an adult I should be able to say no to certain buying impulses. I have to say no to laziness and selfishness.

Fond memories of childhood are good but these memories should stay memories and not turn to actions. I do realize there will be times throughout my life that I many not be able to keep those childhood years from coming up in tears or mini tantrums but I should alway making being an adult who I am. Especially since there is no chance of me ever being a child again.

Right now you are either thinking I am insane or you can totally relate with me. Either way the moral of the my story is to grow up and take control of your finances. Don’t let the child inside you run your life.

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September 7, 2007 | Filed Under Credit Card Use, Financial Advice | Leave a Comment

Budgeting Works!

To gain financial freedom you must take control of your money, plan for the future and Stop Borrowing Money!
Two families striving to gain financial freedom share their experiences.
Blog Author Mona Weathers (monawea)

Co-author, Manda C.
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Time To Budget News!
Manda C. is our new contributing author. Welcome Manda!

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