I've been thinking a lot about our recent decision to charge and immediately pay off Christmas simply for the "easiness" factor. While I am very proud of the fact that we stuck to our holiday budget and immediately paid the bill, it's what happened after that I find frightening.
For a couple of weeks after Christmas, just because I was traveling and such, the credit card stayed in my wallet. I just kept forgetting to take it back downstairs and put it in the safe. I even used it a couple of times, on purpose, and then immediately paid the bill - just to see how it felt.
Then one day I was headed to the store and realized I couldn't find my debit card. I didn't have any cash, either.
A little voice in my head said, "Just throw it on the credit card and worry about it later."
Now, it was late, I was in a hurry, and I was trying to get home ASAP on a crappy, dark, and cold night. But that thought put the fear of God in me. What was I thinking?
I took a few minutes to rummage through my purse, located the debit card in my "other" wallet, and only then did I pull in to the store.
Phew. That was a close one.
When I got home, I took my credit card out of my wallet. Immediately.
You see, while we DID use the card responsibly, and we DID pay off the charges right away, I was definitely tempted not to. Which leads me to believe that I am not ready to use credit cards in the manner they are to be used.
Maybe I never will be?
I don't know. But this was an eye-opening experience, for sure.
Iris
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