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Tuesday, February 8, 2011

adios credit card!

Hubby and I have been working extremely hard to pay off our credit card. We had paid off over 20000 in debt in 2009. Then we moved to Maryland, and put the move on the cc. Granted the government paid us back (it was a military move) but not after we had already earned interest (that the govt doesnt pay for) and bought necessary stuff. We went from a 2 bedroom, 1 bath house in Texas to a 3 bed 2.5 bath house in MD. We worked to pay that off (luckily it wasnt anywhere NEAR what it was before). Once we got it paid off, we bought a house, and moved yet again. We racked up a good bit with "house" stuff. We went from our 3 bed 2.5 bath house (which was huge to us) to a 5 bed 3 bath house on 5 acres. While we didnt buy anything furniture related for the farm house, we did buy lots of paint, and fixer-upper items. We kept Home Depot and Lowes in business! Hubby and I finally agreed that we are sick of living like this. If we just didnt have use the credit cards, then we could have that extra money in the budget. If we need something done, we will budget for it. Instead of buying and paying later.
Tonight hubby called the credit card company and cancelled his account. We still have one open account, that we will pay off by mid march. Its funny, because we were on the phone trying to cancel for about 20 minutes. The guy on the other end, kept asking if we were sure. Yes! At the very last minute, he mentioned that we still owed 3.35 in interest. Blah. Fine, if we owe it we will pay. He conviently mentioned that we could pay over the phone for a 14.95 charge. You mean you want me to pay a fee of 15 for a 3 balance? No way Jose! I can pay it online, for no charge and it will go through just the same. Man, I cant wait to be done with this.
Its scary, not having the card to fall back on. Its even more scary, how much we charge, when we have the account open. We have an emergency fund, should anything happen in the near future. Our next step is to save up 3-6 months expenses. Then we can work on saving for bigger items. Hubby will need a new vehicle in the next couple years. His is not 4 wheel drive and definitely not suited for the farm life. We can then save up for adoption and or infertility treatments. Its our dream to go to Alaska togehter (and even more perfect, to go when my cousin and her family are living there). All these things will be do-able in the future, if we can stay debt free. I know we should keep the card open for good credit. But that just doesnt work for us. I can not be trusted...haha. Sadly its true though, every time I try to just charge something little and pay if off monthly, we get into trouble... so its best to close out the account and use cash.
That was our big achievement for the night. One down, one to go. Then we will be debt free (except for this house, but thats ok). Wish us luck!

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