Life After Debt

[YoungEntrepeneur]

Hi,

I'm 23 years old and transferring to a four year college from a local community college. I'm fortunate enough to pay off my credit card debt. When I move and start living on campus, I might be tempted to use my credit cards again and the last thing I want to do is put myself into debt, again. I'll be working part time while taking my classes but I probably won't have a lot to spend after I pay my bills each month.

What's a good way to prevent myself from using my cards? If I were to close them, they would hurt my credit. If I were to shred them, I might still be able to use them.

Here are the cards:

Capital One-$0 bal. / $4500 limit (Opened in 2007)

UMB Bank-$0 bal. / $4500 limit (Opened in 2009)

Chase-$0 bal. / $2000 limit (Opened in 2008)

Citi-$0 bal. / $2000 limit (Opened in 2011)

I use the Citi card for daily purchases (if any)

TIA

[CreditScholar]

You don't need to close them, just exercise some self-discipline.

[distantarray]

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@YoungEntrepeneur wrote:

Hi,

I'm 23 years old and transferring to a four year college from a local community college. I'm fortunate enough to pay off my credit card debt. When I move and start living on campus, I might be tempted to use my credit cards again and the last thing I want to do is put myself into debt, again. I'll be working part time while taking my classes but I probably won't have a lot to spend after I pay my bills each month.

What's a good way to prevent myself from using my cards? If I were to close them, they would hurt my credit. If I were to shred them, I might still be able to use them.

Here are the cards:

Capital One-$0 bal. / $4500 limit (Opened in 2007)

UMB Bank-$0 bal. / $4500 limit (Opened in 2009)

Chase-$0 bal. / $2000 limit (Opened in 2008)

Citi-$0 bal. / $2000 limit (Opened in 2011)

I use the Citi card for daily purchases (if any)

TIA

---

Even if you shred them they'll cancel you out eventually for inactivity lol usually 6-12 months.

How about putting them into a safe deposit box at the bank, and just set it for things like Netflix, Hulu, Gym membership etc and just have it auto payments set up and forget about it.

[YoungEntrepeneur]

CreditScholar,

I've already disciplined myself by paying off my credit cards. I pretty much had no social life and didn't buy new clothes for about a year. That's a victory in itself. However, being 23 years in college makes it very difficult to not use a credit card when going out with friends. I'm sure I have the will power to not use it but I want to take an extra step to protect myself.

[YoungEntrepeneur]

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@distantarray wrote:

---

@YoungEntrepeneur wrote:

Hi,

I'm 23 years old and transferring to a four year college from a local community college. I'm fortunate enough to pay off my credit card debt. When I move and start living on campus, I might be tempted to use my credit cards again and the last thing I want to do is put myself into debt, again. I'll be working part time while taking my classes but I probably won't have a lot to spend after I pay my bills each month.

What's a good way to prevent myself from using my cards? If I were to close them, they would hurt my credit. If I were to shred them, I might still be able to use them.

Here are the cards:

Capital One-$0 bal. / $4500 limit (Opened in 2007)

UMB Bank-$0 bal. / $4500 limit (Opened in 2009)

Chase-$0 bal. / $2000 limit (Opened in 2008)

Citi-$0 bal. / $2000 limit (Opened in 2011)

I use the Citi card for daily purchases (if any)

TIA

---

Even if you shred them they'll cancel you out eventually for inactivity lol usually 6-12 months.

How about putting them into a safe deposit box at the bank, and just set it for things like Netflix, Hulu, Gym membership etc and just have it auto payments set up and forget about it.

---

That's what I'm thinking of doing. I'd have to report them as lost/stolen and get new cards with new account numbers because I've memorized the account numbers with expiration dates. Ha

[enharu]

This is what I do myself:

Set up automatic payments to those accounts every week (or whichever frequency you like). Just make sure the payments are frequent. That way, you will always notice how much money you are really spending and how much you have left by looking at your checking/savings balance.

[NJTurnpike]

I fully understand the temptation of being in college with CC available to use; however, if you don't start teaching yourself some self control now, then when? Have you ever heard anyone say that managing money gets easier as you get older? If you want to understand and appreicate the value of having good credit, you have teach yourelf self control. And block Amazon on your computer.

[jsickz32]

Im 21 and go out to party everey weekend. My utl is at 1% at the moment. I always put a limit as to how much im gonna spend when i go out. If i spent more than my limit then i dont go out until i pay it off and punish myself with no going out for a weekend. Also split the tab with friends.

[YoungEntrepeneur]

I have the will power to not use my cards. However, I want to take an extra step and make sure I truly prevent myself from using them. After all, I had the will power to not use them as I paid down the balances.

[solstice00]

Congratulations on maintaining  a self disciplined life!

Anybody can spend/waste. It doesn't require the ability of a soothsayer.

But it takes real effort to understand one's financial security and make  informed decision about one's future. The ability to 'save' rests only with the courageous.

I am not saying one should stop spending at all. Being a little generous isn't a bad thing.

 I have a credit line from a foreign bank and it has no limit(The bank's zone chief is a family friend and by no limit I mean I should give them a call before any hefty transaction and they would approve it). I used it once in 2011 to buy a $35,000 car( I had 0 credit history so no financing) and paid in full that very year(used all of my savings. I figured I am just a graduate student and  will enough time to save later on) . Since then I have never used the card. Not even once. My credit cards have a measly 300-1500 limit each. I always used to keep a balance( so I don't get any CLI's but am currently in 1-5% utilization now after paying all of my bills)

I think you should be happy that you have more than enough credit limit for your daily needs. Try using mint. Open it once every morning and see if it reports a balance on any of the cards. if it does, pay it. It barely takes 5-7 minutes. 

Once you see your actual money decreasing after paying off bills from your checking account, you will be a lot more responsible(even with extra CC's).

That is exactly what changed me. I began seeing the consequences(read 'decline of checking balance')  of my actions(read 'spending') and have become more responsible. I currently am looking to get more cards because I know I will never abuse it.

But perhaps you know this already and in that case i would like to end with 'Keep it up!'