I’m sure there are small habits you can develop that will gradually wean you off the CC system, and save even more money. I’d hope that it’s something more rational than my original solution of neurotically tracking every single transaction and every bill every day — that was a little exhausting, but what I needed to get a handle on things. The system has evolved by now, but like I said, it’s trial and error.

Also, I don’t blame anyone for my errors. If I want them to do me a favor and waive the fee, I admit that I played my part in earning it. It’s only fair, right?

Yep, most finance is about diligence. That said, there are conditions that do make finances exponentially harder to stay on top of. Like ADD/ADHD and depression. That doesn’t give Tim and I free rein. But it does mean that we have to try harder and have to sometimes think outside the box.

I have an aunt who had a rewards credit card. She wanted the airline miles but didn’t want to overspend on the card. So she took each transaction receipt home and debited the amount from the checkbook. That way, she never spent more than she could afford to pay off at the end of the month.

I am just glad that we have Quicken once again. Now if only the computer it was installed on was working…

But once it’s up and running again, we’ll be able to really keep a tight leash on ourselves. Until then, it means a lot of checking bank balances online to be sure we haven’t forgotten about any major transactions.

Thanks for your comments. You’re entered in the second weekly giveaway, which will post later today!

When I write a check, I immediately put it on my register. When I use my debit card, I always get a receipt and put it in my wallet. While out and about, I can easily use my debit card a few times…but I know before using my card that I have enough funds to cover things.

When I have a moment at home, I sit down with my receipts and add them to the register. I also go online to view my account at least once a week to make sure that my info matches the bank’s info and to verify that I’ve done the math correctly.

I think another mistake people make is that they assume they are fine with money right now because the check that they just dropped in the mail won’t be cashed for at least a few days, so that money is still theirs. I never think that way. Once I write a check, I just immediately consider that money to be gone and untouchable…despite the bank’s web site still showing that I have that money. I don’t…it’s spoken for!

Thanks for reading and responding! (And for being honest but polite about it!)

It is most certainly a temporary fix and not something I want to continue but we’re almost finished with the student loans (yay!) at which point we can focus on credit cards exclusively and evolve our strategy.

For answering a comment in the post, you’ve got an extra entry into the giveaway.

Ouch, that’s a pricey rental! But you’re right. People want someone to just take it away and whether it’s their fault or not, they feel like they should be excused.

With my overdraft scenario, the supervisor took half of ours away; but I’d been a customer for 12 years and Tim played the low-income/debt card. But very politely. I don’t think it’s ever okay to harangue the customer service people for your own mistakes. I get awfully sick of people’s attitudes lately. I think my temper is shortening as I get older.

But it’s a simple matter of tracking your spending.