Eliminate Your Access to Credit
If your mission is to truly eliminate your debt, you
must put an end to your use of credit as a means of
purchasing and paying for goods and services. Though
this may be a difficult undertaking, especially if you
use credit regularly, it is one of the most critical
steps to take in order to achieve your debt-free goal.
Use the following guidelines to help you stop using
credit and accruing debt:
- Remove credit cards from your wallet.
If you don’t have access to your credit cards, you
won’t use them. If you have to carry a credit card
for emergencies, tuck it away in a rarely-used section
of your wallet; as the saying goes, “out of sight,
out of mind.”
- Cut up your credit cards.
After you have paid the balance on a credit card,
contact the issuing company and cancel the card. Then,
destroy the card (cut it up) and throw it away.
- Resist any new credit offers.
Credit card companies will continue to entice you
to apply and obtain new cards. Don’t fall victim to
the temptation! Resist credit card offers -- especially
since you are taking the necessary steps to reduce
your debt. Shred credit card offers when you receive
them. If you don’t get new credit, you can’t use it
and increase your debt.
- Pay with cash.
Save your money and pay cash when you decide to make
a purchase. You won’t have to worry about a bill coming
later or pay excessive interest charges.
- Write checks.
Make yourself write checks for bills and purchases.
You can’t write a check if you don’t have the money
to cover it in your bank account, so you may think
twice before spending money on something you might
not need, helping you to eliminate irresponsible spending.
Writing checks for your payments also keeps you from
pulling out a credit card, which will help you break
the credit card habit.
- Use debit cards.
A debit card may look like a credit card, but like
writing a check, you can’t use your debit card unless
you have the money in its attached account. Be sure
you deduct the amounts of your debit card purchases
from your account balance so you don’t overdraw the
account. You don’t want to pay overdraft fees.
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