We swore off credit cards five months ago, and for the most part, we haven’t looked back.
However, we recently travelled 1,600 miles round trip for my husband’s conference, and since we didn’t have a debit card, the idea of travelling with all of the cash we needed for a 6 day trip and 5 nights in a hotel plus money for gas and expenses freaked us out a bit. I was not comfortable paying for a hotel in cash our first night on the road. That just seemed like an invitation to shout, “We are carrying lots of cash with us!”
My husband felt the same way, so we compromised. We dug the credit card out of peanut butter, and we used it for our first night’s hotel stay. At the VRBO we stayed at the remaining 4 nights, we were able to pay by check, and we bought all of our purchases and gas with cash.
Don’t worry, I have already made an electronic payment on our credit card to pay off the hotel charge and the credit card is firmly encased in peanut butter again. However, this trip did highlight the fact that we will sometimes need plastic to pay, and if it isn’t to be a credit card, then it needs to be a debit card.
In line with last week’s theme of stretching the budget as far as possible, we decided to get not just a debit card, but a cash back debit card. Now, when we use our debit card, we will also be earning cash back. It doesn’t get any better than that.
Our Progress:
Once again, we did not snowflake this week. However, the good news is that March is almost over, and despite our large deficit, we have not had to raid our emergency fund, go in debt again with the credit card or borrow money. We are working hard and getting through, which hopefully means in April we can start snowflaking again.
Meanwhile, keep me inspired by linking up your progress!
We carry our debit card with us and use it for hotels, rental cars, etc. I wouldn’t like to pay in cash for a hotel room either.
I’ve found travel (although I don’t do it much) to be something often complicated by not having a credit card. (I only got my first credit card in 2010.) When renting a car, for example, the large chains we have used won’t accept cash payment, and they also want a deposit from a credit card. I can understand the need for collateral security, but it makes car rental pretty complicated — especially if it’s just a $30 one-day booking. When I worked at a hotel desk, we accepted cash, but a credit card number was collected to bill miscellaneous charges like long-distance calls and to secure an amount against damages. If the guest did not have a credit card, there was additional rigamarole to go through.
Snowflaking this month:
Nothing extra for the grad school fund.
I received my Chromebook! I moved the rest of the computer fund (rounded up to $600) over to wedding savings.
Yeah. It is inspiring to see you saving diligently for the computer and now finally purchasing it.
I don’t know if it would have been an option for you or not, but I use to use travellers cheques because I had the same concerns as you about travelling with a pocket full of cash.
Good idea. I haven’t used travellers cheques for years.
The only problem I run into with using a debit card attached to my checking account is that hotels will often place a hold on extra funds over and above the cost. That ties those up, and they can’t be used sometimes for as long as a week.
If you are using a pre-paid card, I am not sure if that will happen or not but look into policies very closely. You might have to put extra money on the card to cover that cost since it is a hotel policy.
I hadn’t thought of that problem. Thanks for the warning!
We also decided to hide our credit cards in the depth of our cupboard. Life is perfect without it anyway. Well, the most of the time.
We pay cash most of the time or use a normal debit card, which is not overdraft-able. I don’t do any shopping online, so I don’t need a credit card at all. The kids get their paysafecard vouchers for their online games, which is a great credit card alternative for me.
My husband needs a credit card only to book his flights.
Congrats! Life without a credit card is inconvenient at first, but it is easy enough to adapt.
You wrote: “despite our large deficit, we have not had to raid our emergency fund, go in debt again with the credit card or borrow money.”
This is huge. Huge. Staying the course when things are challenging isn’t as exciting as watching the balances drop a lot, but it’s so, so important. Congrats!
Thanks, Julie. It hasn’t been easy, but we are staying the course. Even though we aren’t able to snowflake at all the last 6 weeks or so, we have been able to avoid accruing any new debt. By still making our regular payments, our debt is continuing to go down, though not as fast as I would like. 🙂
I agree with cashflowmantra – you need to be careful with using a debit card for hotels, rental cars, and even at the gas pump as all of those places can (and usually do) place a hold on your account well over the purchase amount. I always use my credit card for anything travel related – plane tickets, rental cars, hotel rooms, and gas. Since I pay these charges off within a week of incurring them, I’m not paying the interest. This way I don’t have to worry about holds on my checking account that is tied to the debit card for my everyday purchases. Another plus with paying at the pump – I’m not having to go into the gas station and be tempted by the junk food (esp when I’m on my commute home and have the 5pm munchies)! 🙂
I hadn’t thought of that. Thanks for the warning.
This week I snowflaked $65.35 from the income from my 2nd job. I am becoming nervous though because I am leaving this 2nd job for a new opportunity. This new opportunity will pay me much better, but I may go a while without receiving a check. There is a period of training that I have to go through. I will be paid for this training but only after it is finished. I know that I don’t HAVE to rely on this 2nd income anymore, but it was nice to know I had this cushion. So the snowflaking may have to slow down quite a bit for a couple of weeks. Once the new job starts however, the snowflaking will pick back up and hopefully at blizzard type levels. I keep reminding myself that I am planning on only 6 1/2 more months until the budget should be in great shape. I won’t be completely debt free in 6 1/2 months, but finances will definitely be better!
I know how frustrating it can be to not be able to snowflake. We have been stuck in auto-pilot for the last several weeks. However, like you, the time is coming when we will be able to snowflake again. Congrats on finding a job that will help you pay down debt even faster.