How To Take Control Of Your Credit Card Spending Without Cutting Up Your Plastic. Bizarre But Effective!

It’s been said that the road to Hell is paved with good intentions. That statement needs to be amended. The road to Hell is paved with plastic. The temptation to overspend is sometimes overwhelming.

If you have trouble resisting the urge to whip out your credit card and scream “Charge It!” every time you see something you want, read on, because I’m going to give you some strategies to help you control your credit card spending without sacrificing your sanity – or cutting up your plastic.

Let’s face it: In today’s society a credit card is a necessity. You can’t make a hotel reservation or rent a car without one. And you need one for a lot of other transactions as well:
 

OK…so you don’t need one for all of them, but in the interest of convenience it sure helps having your little plastic friend in your hip pocket or your purse.

But, what can you do when you can’t control the urge to spend, spend, spend? These strategies may seem unusual or even bizarre, but if you want to control your credit card spending, and still keep the card, these strategies will gain appeal. And when your outstanding credit card debt stop rising faster than the national debt, you’ll begin to feel pretty smart. You might even brag to your friends that you’ve “invented” a new technique.

     1.Put it on ice – Take your cards and place them individually into freezer safe containers and fill them with water. Then do the deed: Put them in the freezer and CLOSE THE DOOR. Resist the urge to hurl yourself on the floor and throw a temper tantrum. Your three year-old is watching. Before making an impulsive credit card purchase, you have to get it out of the freezer and allow it to completely thaw at room temperature. If you still want the item when the card thaws, go ahead and buy it. It must truly be a need.

    2. Bury It – Drastic times call for drastic measures. Place your credit cards into baggies and put them into a sturdy watertight box (plastic is best). Go outside and bury it under a landmark in your yard (such as at the base of a tree). In order to use the credit card you’ll have to dig it up. If you’re willing to go through all the trouble of digging the card up, go ahead and buy it. It must truly be a need.

    3.Hide it – If the closet in your master bedroom looks anything like mine, the shelf is loaded with old shoe boxes. Take them all down and place them on your bed. Close your eyes and pick one at random. Take the lid off and place your credit cards in the bottom. Mix the boxes up and replace them on your closet shelf. You know the drill by now. Before you can “Charge it” you have to “find it”.

These techniques may seem ridiculous to you, but if you are truly interested in learning to control an insatiable urge to make an impulse buy, forcing yourself to go through an embarrassing and/or time-consuming process to find or get to your credit cards will make you question the purchase.

If you’re not willing to jump through a bunch of hoops in order to get to your credit cards, you will conclude that the purchase just isn’t really all that necessary.

You don’t have to follow these techniques forever. But based on the difficulty you’ll face in getting to the credit cards, the balances on your cards will drop much more quickly than if you have ready access to them. When your balances are down to zero, you might even begin to trust yourself to carry them around in your pocket or purse again. Or not.
 

Need to unlock your home's equity - but have a few questions? Why not consider a free private email consultation with me, Darrin Roseborsky? There's no obligation or commitments to worry about. Just helpful answers to your questions. Use the short form in the top-right corner to get started. And in a few minutes, you'll have the answers to all of your questions.