Whether or not I’ve truly kicked the habit remains to be seen, but I’ve quit. What am I addicted to? PLASTIC! No I don’t inhale the fumes of burning plastic; I do it with the wrist. With a quick snap of the wrist the card comes out of my wallet and with another quick snap of the wrist, the card is swiped in the machine. Instant gratification! Who says I can’t have things when I want them?
Ya’ll, I was drowning in credit card debt. I started a job a couple of years ago making a really good salary; and while I was trying to limit my charges on revolving credit cards, the balances were not going down because I was only able to pay a little more than my minimums. I was also charging more on American Express. Of course, that has to be paid in full every month. So, I was having large American Express bills. Making ends meet was getting more difficult every month and I was drawing out of savings. While I stopped short of maxing out my credit cards and never got to the point that I was charging groceries, my situation was bleak. My credit never got bad because I did pay my bills on time and (knock on wood), I have never been behind in my mortgage payments.
While the only things I’m physically addicted to are carbonated beverages (I can’t go more than two days without that fizz in my mouth) and high fat/high calorie foods, I have never experienced an alcohol or a drug addiction. There are similarities between drug/alcohol addictions plastic addictions. When the alcoholic takes that first drink of the day, I’m sure he or she feels somewhat guilty, but rationalizes just this once because he/she has a stressful day ahead and needs the buzz to get through it. I have to have that pair of shoes, so I’ll charge just this once. Besides if I wait until pay day, they may be sold out in my size. The alcoholic goes on vacation and decides to imbibe. I’ll quit when I get back home. It’s time to buy football tickets and I don’t have the extra money because the tax refund I just got has vaporized. I wonder how that happened. Okay, I’ll charge them and pay extra for the next few months. Yea, right!
Another characteristic of addicts is that they tend to lose interest in things such as family, friends, house maintenance, and physical appearance. I had a friend once that loved clothes and taking care of her appearance. Then she became an alcoholic and lost interest all together in those things. As one of the planet’s most vain and shallow human beings, I can’t image losing interest in clothes and my appearance, but I have been known to go without exercising and lately I’ve been eating too much. Also, I have not been watching things too well at the house. Then last spring during a storm, a huge tree fell on my house. At that time, a water problem was discovered that, if left alone, could have meant serious problems. Luckily, it was caught and God is good. But I should have been watching stuff like that.
Another thing that I had lost interest in was my financial situation. I do have a little bit of money socked back, a lot of which is for retirement. I didn’t care about it, though. My plans were to work as a software engineer until I became too stupid; then I was going to work as a Wal-Mart greeter. When I was no longer able to do that kind of work, I would go into the nursing home under Medicaid or be euthanized, depending on the whim of the government. With all that debt, there was not much hope for a good life.
I would go to bed with this debt on my mind; then I would wake up with the debt on my mind. I would go out and laugh a lot, but in the back of my mind, there was the debt. Earlier this year, I was in New Orleans. One afternoon, friends and I were shopping in the French Quarter. We had our bags of stuff and while we were laughing and having a good time, I was really feeling guilty because I had just given my credit cards a workout. But I would think about that when I got home. In other words, a cloud followed me everywhere I went.
Also, what would happen if Mr. Right came along? I haven’t totally given up on that happening. The amount of my credit card debt would have surely turned him off even though my credit score wasn’t bad. Remember, “I married my dream girl, I married my dream girl, but I didn’t know that her credit was bad…If I had gone to freecreditreport.com, I’d be a happy bachelor with a yard and a dog.”
Today, I paid off my credit card debt by refinancing my house. I got a lower interest rate and the increase in my house payment in minimal. Buying a house and making my payments was one thing that I did do right, and when I needed the equity, I had it.
Now the hard part begins because the very last thing that I want to do is charge back up again. I make a good enough salary that I should be able to buy that pair of shoes when I see them now that so much of my money won’t be going toward credit card payments. Also, I should be able to buy larger ticket items by saving up. However, being credit card debt free is not a license to spend. I actually have enough clothes and shoes to choke a horse, so I’m not going there for a while. I’m going to the beach for a long weekend in a couple of weeks and I don’t plan to charge a thing. My hotel is guaranteed on American Express and one night is already paid for. If I keep it on American Express, I’ll have to pay it off in full when the bill comes in. If I put it on my debit card, it will be paid for right then. Either way, it’s not going to become debt and accrue interest.
Right now, the thought of pulling out a credit card to pay for something nauseates me and I’m hoping that I don’t have some sort of emergency to arise such as having to replace an appliance or the heating/cooling system. I’m holding my breath. I am incurring a small, but unexpected expense. In the back, water was backing up in one of the gutters above the deck whenever it rained hard. As a result the water was spilling out of the gutter onto the deck. My contractor, who installed the gutters when making the repairs to my house after the tree incident, checked the situation out and told me that squirrels were living in the downspout. You would think that the water would drown them and then their bodies would decompose. Well, I guess the nasty things use their butts to block the water, so it the dams up and overflows. I’m going to have to pay for having the downspout cleaned out and for guards to be installed so the squirrels can’t get in there. It’s always something.
Is this one of the best days of my life? Probably! Thanks for allowing me to share it with you.
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