Credit Card Junkies, Get Your Scissors
Elizabeth Leamy: To beat your credit card addiction, cut the plastic.
Aug. 11, 2008 — -- Last week I wrote about why paying with plastic can be a great idea. One reason is that if you have a disagreement with the merchant you can dispute the charges and you don't have to pay while your dispute is pending. But my column drew a few irate e-mails from people who say I shouldn't have encouraged people to use credit cards because they may pile up debt. Though I still maintain that credit cards are a great tool for those who pay them off in full each month, this week I'm bringing you my ideas for digging out of credit card slavery.
Credit card debt is a cancer that's spreading in American households. I used to have this disease.
The malignancy started when I received my first credit card in college. Like many students, a company issued me a credit card even though I had no job and no way of paying. I quickly racked up about $2,500 in debt. My parents bailed me out. I racked up an additional $5,000 in debt.
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This time I dug myself out, dollar by dollar. What an achievement! I can't tell you how good it feels to be free of credit card debt. Here are some strategies to help you liberate yourself too.
What I'm about to say may make you break out in a cold sweat: CUT UP YOUR CARDS. Are you feeling the withdrawal symptoms yet? Credit cards give us a sense of possibility that we just don't have with cash. They allowed me to live beyond my means for years.
But I paid for it. Just as an alcoholic can't drink a drop without relapsing, a credit card junkie shouldn't have any credit cards. Zero. Zilch.
You may argue that in this high-tech age, it's impossible to conduct business without a credit card. True, you can't pay cash when you shop online and hardly anybody uses personal checks anymore. But debit cards put a lid on that argument.
A debit card allows you all the convenience of a credit card, with all the limits of your own bank balance. It's an excellent substitute. (Just be careful, because if a thief gets a hold of your debit card they are draining your bank account instead of stealing from a credit card company and it can take a while to straighten the mess out.)
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