YNAB You Need A Budget

[litterbug]

I thought it might be fun to see what other ways there are to destroy a credit card...Wonder how a mere piece of plastic will fare against C3H6O?

You're right, some credit cards deserve worse than even a cross-cut shredder. I love the image of the pathetic melted credit card in the jar of acetone. Kind of like burning paid-off loan papers in a bonfire.

[maryea]

We still use CC but pay as soon as we see the charges online (the money is already set aside in YNAB). We get cash back every few months and it goes to help us save for a car.

[mozzie61]

We get cash back every few months and it goes to help us save for a car.

We may use a PIF credit card with rewards once we've paid them all off, as I kind of like the idea of getting something back from the credit card companies after all the interest we've sent their way.

I first conducted this credit card experiment early in the debt paydown process, and while bookman commented that it appeared I had a lot of pent up anger towards credit cards I think it was more a symbolic confirmation our new resolve to not use credit cards (OK there was some malice as I poured acetone over that ugly AMEX card ). It was my intention to carry out further credit card destruction experiments, but what I found with using YNAB is that I didn't need to. We had found a way to plan for and fund all of our expenses, including an agressive debt paydown program, without even considering the further use of credit cards. As a result the remaining cards are simply sitting in the back of a drawer, biding their time as each payoff date approaches and the account is closed permanently.

Maybe I'll think of some other fun ways to finally dispose of the physical cards, or I may frame them as some sort of morbid trophy head of our slain debt monster, but having escaped from the downward debt spiral we were in the real prize is already ours.

[caligulala]

I bet you could do something really cool with those slain credit cards - I'm thinking tiny monster sculpture made from them. Fun!

[cableguy11]

I keep one with a very low limit...Used for business trips. When I get reimbursed I just pay off my card. So far so good!

-Art

[K-FED]

I bet you could do something really cool with those slain credit cards - I'm thinking tiny monster sculpture made from them. Fun!

Ooooh I like that idea - go Mozzie!

[tootru]

I have a friend who, though she doesn't use YNAB, just sort of naturally lives the YNAB methodology. She lives below her means. Saves money. Donates money. Lives simply. Pays off credit cards every month. All that. The name of her blog is Consciously Frugal. She gets it.

So she decided to do an experiment where she'd use cash only for 30 days - I think her only exceptions were to keep a couple of monthly donations on credit cards as it was too big of a hassle to change that. She was sure it wouldn't make a very big difference in her expenditures.

Her expenditures went down by 30% that month!!! Just by being that tiny bit more conscious about her spending that using cash creates.

I mean no argument here for or against, and my friend is just one data point, but I think the psychology of cash vs. plastic may be stronger than many of us suspect.

[mozzie61]

Now here's a different way to get rid of those unwanted credit cards. Some how I don't think a bottle of acetone would work so well in that environment.

Disclaimer: The link is part of the Dave Ramsey web site, but this is not an endorsement of his methods.

[litterbug]

Here's a video that combines two of my interests: a Blendtec blender (which I covet badly right now but doesn't fit into this month's budget) and creative credit card destruction:

http://youtu.be/Jv6Mf2njQKY

As for me, I have a paid off but not-yet-closed high interest card sitting around, which I won't close unless I get the REI card I just applied for ($50 cash card, 1% annual cash back, plus extra dividends for REI purchases!!).

[rtrind]

I have a friend who, though she doesn't use YNAB, just sort of naturally lives the YNAB methodology. She lives below her means. Saves money. Donates money. Lives simply. Pays off credit cards every month. All that. The name of her blog is Consciously Frugal. She gets it.

So she decided to do an experiment where she'd use cash only for 30 days - I think her only exceptions were to keep a couple of monthly donations on credit cards as it was too big of a hassle to change that. She was sure it wouldn't make a very big difference in her expenditures.

Her expenditures went down by 30% that month!!! Just by being that tiny bit more conscious about her spending that using cash creates.

I mean no argument here for or against, and my friend is just one data point, but I think the psychology of cash vs. plastic may be stronger than many of us suspect.

I think this will have different effects on different people. My personal feeling is that (at least before YNAB) money in my pocket flies and I'm less concious when buying in cash vs cards. If I went to an ATM and got $100, it would be gone in a couple days. If I went to get $200, it would be gone in the same 2 days. Maybe this is also cultural, since I'm from Brazil and we don't like to carry money in our pockets for safety reasons. Also we have pin codes and to sign receipts. A lot of times the machines take to long to register the purchase or fail to complete the transaction, so money flies easier.

But maybe for the big expenses this could be a psychological benefit. Don't know. Maybe I will try it someday.

[]'s

[litterbug]

After all my statements about not being able to manage cash, I think I might experiment for a few weeks with drawing cash for all my groceries and discretionary spending like eating out (which includes everything except eating in). I still think that I could be spending less money on coffee and treats, so a new strategy might just shake things up a little. I'd limit it to two weeks because I don't want my budget to suffer badly if I mess up. I'm not sure exactly when; I've got some lumpy household things I need to decide on before I figure out whether I can afford any eating out for a while!