Last night:
- Shredded all credit cards.
- Talked to Carrot about having a restaurant budget of $20 a week - she puts in $10, I put in $10. This will cause us to eat more reasonably (both monetarily and portion-ly, I hope). If we want to spend more than $20, we can save up. We are going to physically put this money in a jar. If it's not in the jar, we can't spend it. For $20 you can get a pizza or a couple of basic sushi rolls, and include a tip.
Today:
- Switched SunPass replenishment to a debit card, rather than the credit card. Now the only recurring bills I have on credit cards are 1) a credit monitoring service ($12.99 monthly) and the Banfield cat health plan for Esk ($21.95 monthly until March).
- Decided that I will give myself a weekly allowance of $10 - this will be completely discretionary. It doesn't sound like much, but really, what do I need? I've already accounted for truly necessary expenses. I am going to physically put this money in my wallet - if it's not there, I can't spend it. For $10 I can get 3 pieces of Godiva chocolate, or one fast-food meal, or a magazine and a chocolate milk, or two Frappuccinos at Starbucks. In three and a half weeks I can have a pedicure. If I want to spend more than $10, I can save up.
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Thanks for the feedback! I shredded the cards, but they're not cancelled - don't want to hurt my credit score. I have dealt with ID theft before, unfortunately (which is why I'm maintaining the credit monitoring service). If I need to make a big purchase, I'll use my partner's card and pay her back in cash.
ReplyDeleteObjectively, it does sound a bit extreme, but I actually (voluntarily) lived on very little for a long time - so I'm thinking of this as more of a cold turkey return to the principles that I want to follow, rather than just following my appetites (literally - I spend more money on food than pretty much anything else!).