Comments on: It’s true. I’m addicted to credit cards.

By: J. Money

J. Money — Sat, 27 Mar 2010 17:22:45 +0000

Cool! Pretty interesting that it’s workin’ so well w/out a budget too – well done :) LOVE how you xfer out the extra every month, pretty smart. Thx for sharing!

By: Dena

Dena — Sat, 27 Mar 2010 10:42:29 +0000

We haven’t touched a credit card in…going on three years.We use our debit card for gas in the car.And try to use only cash on our other purchases.We write checks for our bills.It was difficult in the beginning.But it is the thing that works for us.Balancing the checkbook is easy.It makes you accountable for your purchases.We keep a $300 buffer in our account each month.On the first of the next month we transfer that amount to our savings account.It’s a small amount to most but it adds up quickly.We’ve only been tracking since January but we will be $900 richer the first of April.We haven’t set up a budget yet.Just tracking.We haven’t made any changes as far as phone or cable.We may in the future.We are taking small steps but steps none the less.I can’t remember anything else ever working like this system does for us.This is a great blog.I love reading here…Dena

By: J. Money

J. Money — Sat, 27 Mar 2010 00:35:30 +0000

Yeah, I will say that spending cash in mom & pop stores are def. hookin’ them up more, so I always commend people on that :) I try my best to do the same (and usually it works as I’m only picking up snacks or something less than $10 anyways) but every now and then I forget.

Thanks for the reminder!

By: csdx

csdx — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 17:36:45 +0000

Man I have the opposite problem most people have. I can’t keep track of where I’m spending cash, every week I’m always “hey I thought I had another $20 in here, guess I spent it on something”. Then again I don’t have any credit card balances since I always pay it in full. It feels more ‘real’ for me to spend small amounts with my credit card, than with cash. If I’m paying with cash, my attitude is much more cavalier, but with my cards, every penny counts. Of course for my favorite local stores I like paying cash, since it saves them in merchant fees, so supporting them in that way is more worth it to me than getting those card points.

The way we handle groceries is we plan out meals so we have a shopping list. Usually I’ll scan through the weekly flyer (and browse through the fridge) for inspiration on what to cook. We pretty much stick to the list, and have a small budget for snack items. So even though what we spend varies weekly, it’s always what we need and meant to get.

By: Moneymonk

Moneymonk — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 15:35:41 +0000

I keep no more than $200 in my checking after bills are paid. That usually last until next pay period

By: J. Money

J. Money — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 04:04:28 +0000

@Keith @ LifeTuner – I’ll add it to the list :) BIG fan of deposit@home too – esp on the iPhone!
@Jenna – You know, I like the sound of envelope budgeting but man I’d mess that up real fast! I am not that organized ;) but one day.
@Tim – Why yes, I would! Freakin’ awesome.

By: Tim

Tim — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 00:24:18 +0000

Wouldn’t you love to see credit card companies be forced to put disclaimers in all of their ads along the lines of “please enjoy responsibly”? It would look just like an alcohol advertisement, except the warning would come when the dude hands his card to the bartender, rather than when the bartender hands over the beer…

By: Jenna

Jenna — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 16:55:17 +0000

My boyfriend and I use the envelope system for our groceries and “fun money” each month. Using cash is easy when it’s pre-sorted into those envelopes…it’s a forced budget. All of my other expenses flow electronically through checking or a credit card, but because of the way I budget, I could easily transfer over to the envelope system and use cash only. So, I’m operating on a hybrid system…I like earning rewards too much to stop my credit card usage completely! (Although, I will be canceling one of them because they plan to start charging me an annual fee. I’ll have none of that!)

By: Keith @ LifeTuner

Keith @ LifeTuner — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 15:02:41 +0000

You should do a comparison post between ING and USAA. I like USAA’s remote deposit feature. I’m a member of USAA for their insurance, but I don’t have any banking accounts there.

By: J. Money

J. Money — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 14:52:41 +0000

Hey, even better! That means you truly recommend and love ’em! And it’s pretty hard not to really, I mean I go on and on about ING too. Only their my mistress to USAA ;)