Saturday, May 30, 2009

Another Bill... Finally Paid Off

Do you know what I have in my hand, right now? To those of you saying, "Of course not dork, I am staring at my computer screen - how can I know what is in your hand?" To you I say... good point. For the rest of you dying to know what is in my hand, I will give you a hint... it is the last of something big.

I have in my hand my last credit card bill. It is for $114.13. Since I made my own raise back in January and went from paying $75 on my credit card balance to $111.68 each month, this last $114.13 is budgeted in, no problem. I will make my last payment on June 7th. What an incredible relief that will be! In some ways it is even better than paying off my car, though the car payment was more money. Now that I have paid off my car, I have something in return... a car. It is sitting out in the driveway right now. I can't say that of my credit card though. I used it to get by during the process of my divorce. That's not something I really want to hang on to, you know? Now I feel like the slate is about to be wiped clean...

Admittedly, this will not be my last credit card statement ever. I still use a credit card for all my gas purchases, which I diligently pay off each month, and I have read all the same blog articles you have about keeping older credit cards active to keep your credit score up. I have a couple cards that I will continue to use once a year or so, but from now on always when I know I will be able to pay the balance at the end of the month. No more ongoing credit card debt for me!!

There are some good reasons to use credit cards. Just this week Mrs. Micah had some on a guest post she hosted on 5 Reasons to Use a Credit Card. However, credit cards aren't for me right now. They have their uses certainly, but I've had too many bad experiences with them to use them in any other way than I mentioned above - occasional, deliberate use, when I'm able to pay off the balance in full.

I am looking forward to next month - no more car loan bills, no more credit card bills - I could get very used to this!



Photo by: bitzcelt

13 comments:

David Kolenda said...

Congrats!!! Must make a toast to this!

Kari said...

Look at you go! You are well on your way to not NEEDING the $900 a month.

I know you've mentioned that you will still do it while you work on other goals though. I think that's a great idea, fixing the house and the cottage, building your E-fund, saving for other purchases or vacations ect... in the end isn't that what this all boils down to? Being able to say there is an emergency and I have the money... I want to go on vacation to the bahamas or something guess what? My Vacation fund will allow for that.

Good For You!!!

Lucy said...

Congrats!!!

HowtoBEaCOOLoldLady said...

fantastic news. well done. must feel utterly brilliant

Anonymous said...

Look at you go!!!! WOOHOO!! You're doing GREAT!

Simplelivin' said...

Yay!!!! That's awesome! You are just wiping out your debts left and right! You go girl!

Catie said...

This is indeed a milestone! Congratulations!

Dawn said...

David - agreed! Good weather is here and I have plenty of glasses!

Kari - Thanks so much! You said it perfectly - I would love to know that I have the money for my needs. It pretty much just comes down to that.

Frugalchick - Thanks so much!

Dawn said...

Frugal Dreamer - Thank you miss! You are doing pretty darn good yourself!

Simplelivin' - Why thank you! I'm certainly working on it. It will be interesting to see what this does to the old credit score.

Catie - Thank you! Now grab Mr. David and come over and celebrate with me!

Anonymous said...

Way to go! Not being bound to the credit card gods is a wonderful thing. Keep on keepin' on!

Dawn said...

Punch Debt - Will do! That is one less weight off my shoulder!

J. Money said...

you make me happy :) congrats!

Dawn said...

Ha! Thanks J. Money. It is feeling good!