How to Not Use Your Credit Cards!
I must admit, when it comes to managing money, I'm no better than any other gal who likes to shop. For the past month, I finally decided to monitor my spending and to chart the exact percentages that go to each "category" of spending. The categories were rent & utilities, food, cat, gas, household, and shopping. Sadly to say, the "shopping" category occupied more than 50% of my total budget. (Which is insane because my monthly rent is pretty high). All in all, I learned that I spend a LOT of money on shopping!
I realized I needed to keep my inner shopaholic in check.
The Culprit: Credit Cards
I am someone who operates on a credit cards only basis. I literally, DO NOT use cash for anything at all. Everything I purchase goes through my credit cards, so obviously I need to change how I use them. There are several ways to go about this, but I didn't know which way would be best!
There is the give your cards to your family/boyfriend/friend method. I was 100% against this one, since I am paranoid, and knowing my luck, the family member/boyfriend/friend would lose my card somewhere, only to be picked up by some theif!
The cut up your cards option seemed favorable, but a bit dramatic and permanent. Plus, I didn't want to cut up my pretty pink card.
The freezing your card method however, was extremely appealing. It was still in my hands, (well my freezer), so I was in control, but not too in control, as it's frozen in an ice block. Best of all? It isn't permanent and it suffers no damage!
Wanna FREEZE your own card? Follow these simple steps!
Step One
What you need:
-credit card(s)
-bowl
-water
-freezer
That's it!
Try and choose a cheap bowl, or one made of plastic because you're freezing it!
Step 2
Choose a rather large bowl/dish. You don't want the "ice block" to be so shallow that you can just dig your card right out!
Place your credit card(s) inside the dish.
Step 3
Pour water into your bowl/dish. Try and put enough water so that the card is deeply submerged!
I had to push the card down to keep it from floating to the top!
Step 4
Place the dish on a flat surface in your freezer. To speed up the process, I turned down the freezer temp!
Wait at least 4 hours.
Step 5: Finished Product!
Take your bowl/tray out of the freezer. If you want your bowl/tray back, peel the ice out of the tray just like normal ice cubes!
Results?
So far, I've gone one week without using my frozen credit card AT ALL! Which is a miracle in itself. Hopefully I can monitor my progress and see how much less I've spent by the end of this month compared to the last month!
If you'd also like to do this at home, just add up all your expenses for a past month and categorize your spending. (see first & second paragraph) Then, use steps 1-5 to freeze your card(s) and monitor your spending for the new month! Calculate how much you've saved from freezing your credit cards!
