With the economy circling the drain these days, everyone has had to find ways to cut back, to scrimp pennies and reduce the amount of credit they use. Which makes Kile and I think, “Wow, we’re finally ahead of the crowd on something!”
We haven’t used credit for much of, well, anything besides our home and vehicles since before we were married. I was one of those kids who got sucked in by the credit card companies my first semester away at college and then I racked up a huge (at least, it was huge for me back then) debt that I couldn’t pay. My parents found out, paid it off and then I had to pay them off (which SUCKED because not only did I not have the opportunity to rebuild my credit, but I got about $35 a week off a $300+ paycheck during my summer vacations). So my credit sorta sucked to begin with. As did Kile’s. So we learned then not to rely on credit.
Basically? If we don’t have the money in our checking account, we don’t buy it.
It’s been hard, especially when we see so many other people over the years who have thrown caution to the wind and purchased whatever and whenever they pleased. There’ve been a lot of things we’ve wanted that we’ve had to put off or plain not get altogether. And when we see the Smith’s down the street be able to get big screen TV’s, new vehicles, fancy electronics, etc and so forth, it has caused us to feel a little jealous. Not enough that we wanted to put those purchase on credit though. That’s the key.
It sorta sucks when it comes to things like needing to replace a mattress (ahem) or fix a fence or something, but we have always made it work. We do a LOT of window shopping. We’ll go out on the weekend and go to a lot of different stores, but it’s mostly just to browse and get out of the house. We rarely buy things outside of groceries or gas. We don’t even eat out very much anymore (however, hot dogs at Sam’s Club are fabulous for a cheap, quick lunch at $1.50 for a hot dog and ginormous soda!).
The upshot here is that now when things are looking so grim, we don’t really have to change our budget because we’ve been trying to save money all along. PLUS, we just paid off our van so we don’t have a car payment anymore. That’s a good chunk of change each month.
I don’t want to make it sound like I think we’ve got all the right answers. Believe me, we don’t. But on the other hand it’s comforting to no longer be the lone pennypinchers in a sea of spendthrifts.
{ 9 comments }
Randi (40 comments.) 10.07.08 at 11:29 am
We do have 2 credit cards, but only for emergency purposes - we haven’t used them since two years ago when we had to buy oil desperately all winter, and we’re still paying them off. But yeah, I know what you mean about not having a big screen tv and stuff like that. We don’t even have cell phones (no coverage at my house).
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Moon HalloranLeady (73 comments.) 10.07.08 at 11:47 am
Hey, you’ve definitely got the right idea! While I would LOVE to have a credit card for emergencies, I also know it’s way too easy to justify an “emergency”…although I would like to think I would be better at it now than when I was younger. For instance, we had my daughter at the ER last night with her crummy asthma flaring away and bronchitis waiting in the wings. Well, they gave us some meds and some scrips, but the scrips are going to have to wait until Friday when we can buy them (and yes, we have insurance now) because we only have $40 at the moment and Imma need gas to get to work. THAT’s an “emergency”, in my book.
We live in a tiny old house we rent, and drive a 14 yo car with 230,000 miles on it (yes, you read that right), it overheats, and burns oil and gets terrible gas mileage but for now it’ll do until we can afford to get my Ebay car, the Alero fixed.
We don’t have much, but I don’t care about “things”, unless it is medicine or toilet paper. We have love and we are happy and that’s what matters and we count our blessings every day.
Britt (43 comments.) 10.07.08 at 12:14 pm
This was a great post because you made me realize that things aren’t so bad for my family either. I’ve been really nervous about the economy, but we, too, have very little debt and have lived without a lot of luxury. I just realized that we are fine!
Also, you mentioned neighbors with nice things. If those things were purchased on credit, that’d scary because when the economy is bad, they won’t be able to sell those things when they need to. That’s scary!
Susan 10.07.08 at 2:41 pm
You’re absolutely right. There are lots of others who will be joining you in your thriftiness. My husband and I had a “come to Jesus meeting” about our finances a few months back and are still learning what it means to live within our means. But, in just a few short months, it has made a big difference. I’m so glad we started before this crisis hit, and won’t be freaking out about our spending. It’s just more of the same from here on out.
Sammanthia (1 comments.) 10.07.08 at 11:23 pm
Same here… I’m all about “cheap”. I grew up in Poor, and it’s not someplace I’d like to go back to. I cut corners where I can… it used to be out of necessity, now it’s habit. And credit cards? No way… only in emergencies. I’ve seen too many people get sucked in that way and it’s scary
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Ariel (11 comments.) 10.08.08 at 12:57 pm
I’m with ya here. Now, I won’t lie and say that we never use a credit card because it would be just that, a lie. But we are cautious about what we use and when and why. We are in the process of paying it all off too. I can’t wait for it to not be hanging over our heads!!
BTW, I tagged you for a meme! Check out my blog!
michelle 10.08.08 at 2:37 pm
Well… we try not to use our credit card unless we have to. And a sneaky way to save money? When I get home from the grocery store, I look at my receipt and any money I saved by using a coupon or something, I take that amount of money out of my purse (sometimes I have to run a tally because I don’t have a lot of change lying around) and stick the amount I saved in a piggy bank. Because if you save 25 cents on a jar of peanut butter at the store, you’re not really saving it unless you take that 25 cents and put it away somewhere. It all adds up and then before you know it, you can order pizza or get chinese food. And you’re not spending anything out of the budget. I got the idea from my mom. She’s awesome at squirelling money away for stuff.
Linda (6 comments.) 10.09.08 at 11:34 am
AMEN! AMEN! I feel the same way. Finally it’s cool to be money smart. Finally I don’t feel pressure to buy the latest and greatest. Yay!
Kimber (11 comments.) 10.09.08 at 12:09 pm
Here & I thought we were the only ones.
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