When the recession hit the world a few years ago, many Americans had to seek help from professional debt management agencies such as Freedom Debt Relief USA to help them deal with their unresolved debt issues. Research has shown that credit card debts are one of the major contributors to the mounting debts of many people in the US. More people are no longer afford to pay off their debts as a result of the global recession. One silver lining from the cloud of recession is that more Americans are now more aware of the way they use their credit cards. That includes my friend, Julie, who previously was a worshipper of the magic plastic card. She depended so much on her credit cards that she probably would not know how to shop with only cash in hand.

Of course as recession hit and debts soared to an all time high, Julie realized she had to do something to stop her financially destructive habit. She already had more credit cards than she could possibly use. So she decided to cancel many of her credit cards. She made the phone calls that she probably should have made to her credit card providers a long time ago. But better late than never I always say. She closed several of her credit card accounts but was careful enough to leave open two credit cards so that she could still maintain a good credit score. A good credit score is essential for future financial activities so Julie needed to maintain at least one card that she could still afford to keep.

Julie loved her credit cards and she could not bring herself to shred the ones she did not really need. So what she did was to literally freeze her cards. She put them in a block of ice and stashed it away at the back of her freezer. Out of sight, out of mind. Basically she still had some credit card accounts open but she still needed to be careful not to overspend the credit cards she still had. With the cards in the block of ice, she would have no choice but to leave them at home. Without the cards easily accessible in her purse, she would not have to face the temptations of swiping her cards to make her purchases. She would be forced to rely on cash to buy things. As someone who was so used to purchasing with credit cards, this behavioral turnabout was quite a challenge. Julie even got to a point where she did not even know what to do with the cash she had in her purse. But I suppose that would work out to her advantage because not only was she not spending the money she did not have by swiping her credit cards but she was also not spending the money she did have.

Julie also knew that physically swiping her credit cards may not be the only way she would be able to use her credit cards. Nowadays, online shopping may pose quite a danger for people with credit cards. Simply key in the details of your credit card and you would be able to purchase things online and have them delivered to your doorstep. So Julie deleted all information she had pertaining to her credit card from her computer so even if she was tempted to make online purchases she would have no means to do so because the numbers on the card that she would need were no longer available. She could only access these numbers if she were to break open that big block of ice in the back of her freezer.

The steps Julie took to change her credit card usage in terms of frequency and volume might seem small, but if she continues to do so and spend her money wisely, she would be improving her finances in the long run. It was only difficult at the beginning and as she progresses it would develop into a habit that is healthier for her finances.

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Category: Finances
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