Our credit card interest rates have drastically fallen in the past year as prime rate has gone down, and on one card we have a lower rate than on our mortgage. Obviously, our rates are variable, rates could skyrocket and credit cards can basically be called due at any time, but still it tempts me to stray from responsibility.
The adult in me knows that paying these cards off should be our first priority, but when I see how little interest we're paying on what feels like huge balances to me, I'm tempted. Tempted to put that little extra money into the travel savings instead of an extra payment to a card. Tempted to spend a little more than we should. Tempted to take a portion of my husband's bonus that hasn't been allocated and get supplies to start veggies from seed instead of putting it toward the cards. Tempted to just ignore the balances since after all, we pay way over the minimum.
Ghosts in my head
I started this post last weekend while I was reconciling accounts. The finance charge on our lowest interest card was just over $20, and I thought why am I working this hard and running things so close to the wire when it's just an extra $20 a month on one card, and not a whole lot more for the other? I started thinking about bolstering our emergency fund. I started dreaming of spending.
As I typed up the beginning of the post, the people that might read it popped into my head. People who just lost jobs and have no emergency fund. People who had those same thoughts as I have, and then one day realize that their minimum payments are simply not doable. People about to be foreclosed on. People I don't want to be. I couldn't finish and publish the post or maybe even admit to myself that these thoughts weren't quashed immediately.
We've been turning our financial lives around since June 2008, and it seems silly to stop now that we're just starting to see results. This kind of thinking is exactly what got us into credit card debt in the first place. But we've hit a plateau of enthusiasm, and it's getting harder to keep telling friends, sorry, we just can't afford it. I feel like all we do is work and worry about money.
Facing reality
Last night, as I watched a Suze Orman episode off the DVR, my stupidity almost smacked me in the face. My imaginary readers, they were right there on her show. Tens of thousands of credit card debt. Student loans out the wazoo. Totally unaffordable mortgages. Gaps between expenses and income that ran into thousands of dollars. Job loss. Just desperation all around.
We don't have student loans, and only one car loan. Our mortgage is a bit of a stretch, but it's fixed and just barely within our means. Our cars are pretty new. All in all, we have it good. Once we deal with learning to spend less than we earn and get rid of this credit card debt, the future is wide open. We just can't lose focus. Why is that so hard?
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