Debt Free Kid

It took a few months for me to figure out that the theme for 2016 is "Make Do." Because I have compulsive spending habits (that got me into over $20 000 in credit card debt), I have to be very careful with my idle time. If I am on a computer I have to avoid online shopping, and if I have a few free hours on the weekend I have to avoid the shops. It is not made easy when my newest credit card allows me to designate three shopping categories to receive my 2% cash back each month. Since January, one of my self-selected categories is "Drug Store." I have been out of my nice face serum since late 2015, and it has been so tempting to go into the drug store and purchase another $50 bottle, knowing I will get $1 back for the purchase. But I have avoided the drug store and saved the money, and I am instead using up a jar of $50 cream that I purchased last year. Making do with what I already have. I am similarly avoiding Sephora, since I have at least 10 lipsticks and liner...

So far not off to a great start. I misread a letter from the student loan company and was $4 short for one of my payments. I started off the new year with a $45 NSF fee in my "no-fee" account. It was a really stupid mistake, since the line of credit they granted me is sitting there unused, and I could have transferred an extra amount from there just in case ... could have, should have. The mistake will eventually be forgotten, but not my grudge against that bank. I have already pulled almost all of my money from it to use another no-fee bank that is serving me much better. It felt great to end 2015 with all my bills paid, thanks to the "Xmas Saving" account I set up, where I deposit a small amount each month to cover December (extra) spending. However, I forgot to leave a little bit in there to visit a friend before New Year's, and ended up having a larger than expected credit card bill to pay in January. So I'm playing a bit of catch-up this month and not...

One morning last week, I woke up with a little giddy feeling, sort of like it might be my birthday*, or christmas morning, but it wasn't. It was Friday the 13th I think, but that had nothing to do with the feeling. I was excited because the night before I received an email from Tangerine** telling me that I'm pre-approved for their new cash-back credit card. As soon as I saw the email on my phone, I went over to the laptop and logged in to accept my acceptance. I was pre-approved for $14 000 but I was able to change it to $7500. I chose this amount because when the new card arrives I will cancel two other credit cards worth $10 000 combined. We are sometimes told to keep our oldest credit card opened for good credit history, but now that I have a mortgage and car loan in place, I'm not too worried about what my credit rating looks like. I hopefully will not be opening too many more credit products after this. I'm excited for this card to show up. Not only will i...