2009-01-02

Buh-bye.

At approximately 11:00 am EST on January 1, 2009 I cut up all my credit cards.

Let me state for the record that this does not signify that I am debt-free. Far from it. What I do not want is to accrue even MORE debt, over and above my student loan balance (still on the hefty side after all these years) and what I have managed to accumulate using the aforementioned credit cards (also of an astonishing -- and embarrassing -- heft).

In my closet, still unopened and unused, sits a "sweater shaver" that I bought on a whim from Brookstone or Sharper Image or some such emporium of needlessness. I bought this YEARS ago. With my MasterCard. It stands as unholy testament to my inability to be responsible with money that I don't have.

It's a personal philosophy that's simple in enough in theory: if you can't pay for it in cash, you probably don't need it. Granted, there are exceptions to this (notably the night we got stranded in Portland, Oregon and had to book a flight on an entirely different airline because we HAD to get home). But by and large, in MY experience and in reviewing what I've done in terms of MY credit history, 90% of what I've amassed is the result of wholly UNnecessary purchases. The sweater shaver. Clothes that I've bought and worn maybe once or twice. Books, when I have a perfectly good library card. None of these fall into the "emergency" category, except in my own admittedly addled mind. I haven't had a drink in 6 1/2 years, but I will still run out and buy expensive perfume because it will make me "feel better" for about 20 minutes. On credit.

By my estimate, it's going to take me a little over two years to get myself out of this hole. And this is do-able now that I don't have physical access to the plastic. Further, I've deleted the card numbers from my Paypal and Amazon.com accounts.

The houseboy still has his credit cards. This is because he is much more fiscally responsible than I am. If we should run into another situation such as the Portland Debacle, we're covered. But I am my own worst enemy, and I can justify nearly ANY frivolous purchase in fairly short order. Frankly, I don't even remember what I told myself when I bought the goddamn sweater shaver, but it must have been good.

Now, I COULD take it out of its box, buy some batteries (with cash) and de-pill me some sweaters. But I won't, because its very existence on the floor of my closet, still in its box, is painfully comical now. I need to remember that this is the kind of shit I pull when left to my own devices.

I'm generally not one to make "resolutions" based on the arbitrary turning of a calendar page. But I do believe in fresh starts, and yesterday seemed like a good day as any to cut those fucking things up.

lisamcc at 9:09 a.m.

previous | next