I am finally thinking positively.
I was in a funk, I was stressing out thinking how am I going to get my CC bill paid off and make any progress on savings goals.
I put up my October Budget on my SideBar. I have a little under $600 wiggle room in my Budget each Month IF I make the months prior goals.
By Wiggle Room I mean whatever does not get spent on gas or food is free to apply to goals....So it is up to me to save gas and scout meal deals to stretch that but It is totally doable.
This is better than I thought. I was thinking I was going to NEED to bring in a roommate in order to make progress on my savings goals but truthfully IF I just keep spending down to a minimum I could actually make progress on my savings goals.
I am going to post spending here because then I am holding myself to my purchases and at the end of the month when I post where the saving went I will see the result.
I have a question for you, I currently have a VERY low balance in my Checking acount right before payday this is where I have my Automatic bills come from. I would like to beef up the balance but I do have autodraft so I should be okay. I am currently charging ALL purchases then at the bill due date paying the statement balance. I get credit card rewards for doing this (please note I am doing this because I am BROKE, not because of the rewards).
IF you were me would you:
Option #1: continue to use the CC for purchases such as gas and food and get the rewards paying off the statement balance a week or so prior to it being due and gaining the cash back reward applying the extra money you had each month to the $$ Goals in your sidebar.
Option #2: Take the leftover money at the end of the month for a few months and build up the checking account balance so you were using the checkbook and or debit card to buy the gas and food and not have a credit card bill what so ever and miss out on the CC rewards and delay the $$ Side bar Goals for a few months.
The two options both have postitives
#1 CC rewards and Faster Sidebar Savings
#2 NO CC balance and More of a Checking Cushion
Negitives
#1 CC balance revolving Each month so never really PAID in Full
#2 Missing out on CC rewards 1% on all purchases and 2% on gas; Checking account needs to be balanced instead of just verifying that the charges on the CC are correct and nothing fraudulate are poping up.
My Cash Rewards are $61.99 but the Gas are Separate and do not know the current balance on that.
Finally thinking Positively. And two situations questions for you.
August 30th, 2010 at 03:47 pm
August 30th, 2010 at 03:58 pm 1283180329
You need to do what is best for you. For me, I found that I was always moving money around - borrowing $ from the upcoming week or transferring from the savings account "just til payday". Well, that really didn't do much to fix the problem of living within our means.
I am Day 4 into Week 2 of cash only. This has been inconvient at first. Having to get out and not pay at the pump at the gas station. Having to try to figure out how much I think things will be, etc. But I'm not having to check the balance of the checking account to see how much money we have left. When the money is gone, it is gone. We had a pretty spendy weekend and I got the dog groomed and had to pay for soccer pictures. I have $15 left to last til Thursday, but the cars have gas, we have enough groceries for our meal plan, and there is no recreational shopping for me!
August 30th, 2010 at 04:50 pm 1283183440
Personally, I would continue to use the CC for the rewards, but of course, buy only what is needed, especially through this period of trying to build a cushion. Put any rewards money into the checking account to build up that cushion you want. Do not use the cushion as an excuse to spend extra out of checking, of course.
August 30th, 2010 at 06:34 pm 1283189665
August 30th, 2010 at 06:47 pm 1283190458
The thing that sways me is that I believe you have other savings (per sidebar). I always run my checking account to $0. I don't have the cash in there to pay expenses as I rack them up. I do pay them after the fact. But that is a conscious choice to keep as much cash in savings as possible. The primary reasons to use the card are rewards, convenience, and significantly decreased risk of fraud. (Ccs may have more fraud - but much simpler to clear up. I would not carry a debit card - fraud means tying up your cash in that case).
If you literally had $0 in checking AND no other cash available, well, that would be a whole other scenario. IF you personally find you spend more on cc than with cash, you could be better off with a debit system. Just depends on you.
August 30th, 2010 at 07:24 pm 1283192697
August 31st, 2010 at 12:59 am 1283212746
Yes you are right I do have other savings (I just pretend it is not there because if you are always dipping into your Emergency Fund then the EF is not there when you need it).
August 31st, 2010 at 01:26 am 1283214402