For about 3-4 months now, I've been living without a credit card, and budgeting, budgeting, budgeting! My biggest mistake when I had a credit card: Forgetting to make the payments! I'd end up spending my money twice, and as a result, I managed to get myself into around $1,200 in debt. The final straw was when I got injured over the summer and couldn't work. I got my worker's compensation money later than I expected, and my rent check bounced. I scrounged for any extra money I had lying around in my car, in my chequing and savings accounts, and finally had to call and raise my credit card limit so that I could take out the rest of the money I needed. After I paid my landlord, I called the credit card company, and cancelled the card. Cutting up that little piece of plastic was so liberating! I finally felt some relief. At least now, things could start going right.
Where am I now?
Here's a quick summary of my financial and living situation: I work full time, and I live with a roommate in an apartment outside of Montreal. My monthly bills consist of rent, a car payment, car insurance and gas, a cell phone, internet, a credit card, and electricity. (I'm a bit embarrassed to add that I've also got one month left to pay on a gym membership I took out last year that was barely used.) Thankfully, the rent, internet and electricity costs are halved by virtue of said roommate, but the rest (including groceries) are on me. And I mustn't forget my two gorgeous kitties! They need food and litter, too.For the most part, I've been really good about paying everything. However, I've struggled with making regular payments on my credit card, and with impulse shopping - mostly on that afternoon coffee and McDonald's runs.
Today, I've got somewhere between $400-600 left on my credit card to pay back, and in order to make the most of the next few payments before my income tax comes in, I've decided that No Spend Month is going to be my new thing! I'd rather put as much of my income tax return into savings as I can rather than on my credit card debt.
Here's where things become a challenge: I typically budget $400 for grocery and gas money every month. My goal is to cut that spending in half! Now it's going to be $200 (half for groceries, half for gas). This means cooking more at home, and with more foods like couscous and rice, less meat, and more veggies, bringing a lunch to work instead of eating out, and minimizing car travel as much as possible other than for work. There will definitely be times where I'll be driving out to see my partner in the city, and I'm just going to have to find a way to budget it all! The rest of my money that isn't spent on bills will go towards paying off the last of my credit card debt.
Technically, this is going to be a 7-week No Spend Month, since I don't have the patience to wait until February 1st to change my spending habits. To make unnecessary purchases even harder to make, I've removed my debit card from my wallet. From now until the end of February, the only time I will use my debit card will be to withdraw cash for the month. Right now I've got $20 in my wallet to cover food (my gas tank is currently full) until next pay day on the 15th. Then the real fun starts.
Anyone out there with some spending habits that need to be changed? Come and join me!
