Month: July 2017

It’s Amazon PrimeDay!  Amazon has been promoting this day for several months. There are a limited amount of products available for the items that are reduced and you have to make the purchase in a few short hours, so in some cases you have to act quickly, otherwise the items will be sold out.

Today, I’ve seen many Facebook groups, sharing what they purchased. Of course, others responded within the comment section to show what they’d purchased. Some people were undecided, since they ‘wanted’ the items but were unsure if they’d make the purchase since it wasn’t in their budget. Did I purchase anything? Yes, but I’d budgeted for those purchases in advance, so I was fine. I had planned on buying one item this past weekend, but then I remembered that today was PrimeDay and so I held off until now to see if I could receive a better deal. I didn’t for that item, but I did for the other.

The cleaning sprays that I purchased for my Toyota Prius weren’t reduced more, but…

the sketch pencils that my daughter needed for an upcoming class were!  An additional $7 was knocked off the price.

How much did I spend on Amazon PrimeDay? $26.34. It was budgeted and I came out ahead. You want to know something?  It’s the first time I’ve ever purchased anything at Amazon on  PrimeDay. I’ve been an Amazon Prime member since the service was offered. Were there items that I wanted to buy yesterday, but didn’t? Of course, but those items were ‘wants’ and although I COULD have made the purchase without going over my budget, I chose not to do so. I figured those items that caught my interest would be good deals for someone else.

Towards the end of this week, I’ll be cleaning the Mass Air Flow sensor in my Toyota Prius instead of taking it into the auto mechanic to take take care of this for me. This past weekend, I drained/refilled the oil in my Toyota Prius. Another way to save money for car maintenance since the work was done by myself. I typically do most of my own car maintenance, some jobs I save a few dollars and others I can easily save over $100. 😉 To ensure that I have my 2003 Toyota Prius for a long time, I stay on top of doing the maintenance when it’s recommended. Often times, I do it at least a thousand miles before the suggested maintenance.

As mentioned, in May of this year, I acquired a credit card. I hadn’t had one for years. As l already mentioned in earlier posts, I stopped using it because my debit card did exactly what a credit card did with the added bonus that it came directly out of my checking account, just how I liked it to be.

For several years, I’d been using my debit card and I was fine with that, however, I started thinking about the possibilities of it not being accepted at some places. Now granted, I had never run into this issue, but I’m the type that typically has a back-up plan for everything (that’s just how I roll) so I must say I’m surprised that I went without a credit card for so long.

Approximately 14% of the population has no credit score whatsoever, and is labeled as credit invisible. As a result, these underbanked individuals will have difficulty obtaining new lines of credit.

I Have a Low Credit Score Because I Didn’t Use a Credit Card

When I went to apply for a card, guess what I found out? There was absolutely no credit history about me to report and I received a message (like the one quoted above) stating that my credit was invisible? I pay my bills on time and have no debt, but it still had no credit history of me within the system. I have read about this from some homeowners that don’t use credit cards and I suspected this might be the case if I ever decided to acquire a credit card.

 Personal Responsibility: I pay my credit card bill weekly

But as you can see, with the chart below, I make payments on my credit card frequently. It’s about personal responsibility, I don’t spend what I don’t have, even with a credit card. So yes, I treat it exactly as cash or a debit card.

As you can see the first month, I only used it for a few purchases, however, in June I increased the amount I purchased and this month that has increased even more. Sorry credit card companies, but you won’t make any interest off of me for carrying a balance. As mentioned many times, I pay my weekly and have a zero balance. I love paying for my credit card purchase as soon as it’s used. That might sound ‘odd’ to some, but being debt free makes me happy.

However, I’m not fooling myself into thinking they aren’t making anything. You see, when I make a purchase using my credit card, the merchant is charged a fee. It would make sense for the merchant to factor this into their listing prices, so I don’t feel bad about that at all. My credit card doesn’t have an annual fee so I’m not ‘paying’ that way. Also, my credit card doesn’t have an annual fee.

I have heard some say that people tend to spend more with plastic than with cash. I honestly don’t. My purchases are always planned and I don’t go over my budget. I am a natural saver. My debit card should arrive any day now, but I’ll still be using my credit card for all my purchases. I’m thinking I won’t use my debit card at all since it was compromised. You can read about the attempted unauthorized use of my debit card issue here.

What if  I lose my job or am ill?

As mentioned, I’m a natural saver so I do have an emergency fund in place to prepare for the unexpected, so my bills will still be paid, regardless. That goes back to personal responsibility and preparing for the unexpected in advance, so you aren’t scrambling when those unfortunate circumstances happen. I don’t indulge in my wants. I rarely go out to eat at restaurants. I much prefer cooking and it saves additional money that I can put aside to planning for our future. Also, when it comes to entertainment, most of it is free. This all ties into me being able to effectively set aside money for the unexpected. It’s just smart and being a wise steward, just like Joseph from the Holy Bible. Also, I’m not dependent on one source for an income, that’s the importance of creating multiple income streams.

I Budget

I use YNAB (You Need A Budget) for my budgeting needs. I’m enjoying it immensely. I still keep a budget on paper too, but YNAB is great since it gives me the opportunity to digitally record transactions when they occur. By the way, you can try YNAB free for 34 days by clicking on this link. YNAB contacted me a few months ago about joining their program and I was honestly thrilled, but I didn’t act upon it until now. This is an affiliate link. You can search my website to see what I’ve written about YNAB. After the trial, if you do decide to use their service we both receive a free month of YNAB! I manually enter all my transactions into YNAB. I simply like that level of control, however, you can allow it to link to your bank accounts.

Resources:

1. Does Your Credit Score Matter if You Don’t Do Debt?
2. Average Credit Score in America
3. Thank You To People With Credit Card Debt
4. How Paying A Credit Card Works

Wasn’t I just writing that one of the reasons I decided to get a credit card was in case of incidents happening out of my control? Well, last week, I had unauthorized access to my debit card, which is tied to my checking account. The good news is my bank stopped the fraudulent activity instantly, contacted me and nothing was removed from my account. They immediately froze the debit card, so no money was lost! This past Thursday, I went into my local back and signed the ‘hot form’ so I could receive a brand new debit card.

It’s a bit of a puzzle to me how the person gained access since that card has been used at the same places for years, so perhaps one of those businesses had to be compromised? Also, the past few months, I have not used the debit card. I’ve been paying for all of my purchases with my credit card that I acquired in that same month. The credit card is new to me since I haven’t had a credit card in years, not because of poor management, but because I didn’t see the need for one with a debit card.

Credit Card: I don’t spend what I don’t have

I just have one credit card, and as I mentioned earlier I acquired it recently. Before, I hadn’t had a credit card in about thirteen years. I was responsible with it when I did have it back in the day and I only had it for two years. With my credit card, I treat it no differently than my debit card, meaning if I don’t have money in my checking account, well I’m not making the purchase. There’s always money in the account.

 

I pay my credit card bill soon after making a purchase

But back to my credit card, I pay the amount owed to the credit card the same day or within a few days after the purchase. My final backup was setting up auto-payment so if something happens to me and I’m unable to do what I normally do, it’s still automatically paid in full before the monthly billing cycle. So regardless, my credit card balance will be zero every single month. This is an effective way to avoid credit card debt and eliminate finance charge, because every month I will have a zero balance. No, I won’t slip up and get into credit card debt. I’m wise and disciplined enough to know, what I purchase, I also owe. This again, is one of the areas where I disagree with Dave Ramsey. I disagreed with him even before I acquired another credit card, not everyone is irresponsible or will purchase items with money they don’t have. Come on Dave, give some of us more credit than that. I’m also taking advantage of the ‘points’ that some credit cards companies offer. I’m using those points to acquire free stuff. The beauty of it is that the credit card company isn’t making anything off of me since I pay the credit card of every single month. Lol, I love it and that’s winning with credit cards. 🙂

Fun Fact: Credit card companies refer to people (like me) that pay their entire credit card balances off in full each month, DEADBEATS. Because they make no money off of us. Well, in this case, I’m proud to be a deadbeat.

 

Resources:

What does it mean if the bank Hot Carded My Debit Card?