It is a rare occassion when I post two blogs in a day, but in my excitement over "90210" I forgot to rejoice in the fact that yesterday, I finally made cutbacks. I snapped my credit card in half.
I was then flooded with an array of emotions, mostly to my surprise relief followed by in no particular order anguish, pain, panic, terror and then triumphance. I had finally freed myself of getting further into the debt I was slowly adding to from 5 years ago.
My credit card arrived shiny and new shortly after I started university. I vaguely remembered saying "Er, yes?" to my banker when he asked me if I wanted a credit card, whilst I was opening up my student account ready for my first year at university. Excited at the prospect of having an overdraft, it never even occurred to me that I could get a credit card. Dumbfound, I watched as he ticked the "yes" box next to the words credit card on my application form. I was elated.
Five years and thousands of pounds in debt later (relax, it was my student loans), I have bit the bullet and decided (however momentary the decision was) to get rid of credit. Being a product of the typical "credit generation" doesn't make me proud. In comparison to a lot of people I know, my debts are nothing. I have known people to open two student accounts with different banks, just for the overdraft facilities. It doesn't make me any less guilty of the fact that I owned a credit card only to spend now, and pay later.
And this may be the very reason so many people my age and even younger, scarily, are steadily mounting up their debts. I read an article that stated that the average 25 year old has £10,000 worth of debt. I was going to become a statistic, if I wasn't already.
So last night after work as I walked towards the pub to meet my housemate, I realised enough was enough. I pulled my purse from my bag before I had time to stop and think, slid my red credit card out from it's usual slot in front of my debit card (that's how bad it got) and snapped it in two.
The overwhelming sense of relief I felt shocked me. If anything, I thought I would be crying or hysterical by now. So far so good, no fainting, no hot flushes, no nightmares. As I write this, I have gone over 24 hours cold turkey. It's like a weight has been lifted, really.
I am officially done with credit cards... well except for my emergency one which my mum monitors but that doesn't count because I wouldn't dare use it - right?
I highly recommend cutting up all your credit cards just to put an end to the credit madness. It's not easy going cold turkey, but I read a great tip in a magazine once - literally, freeze your credit card in your freezer if you're hesitant about getting rid of it completely, because then when you want to use it, you have to wait until it's defrosted. By which time, will you really need that pretty dress you saw on ASOS?
So if you have a credit card, consider this - why spend what you haven't got?
I no longer do.
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