Credit card interest rates! Saving @ Starbucks & the grocery store.

I don't know about you, but I am sick and tired of credit card rates going sky high! Right now my main objective is to get rid of my chase credit cards, they are the worst, and chase, along with HSBC are the ONLY companies that have raised my rates. I was doing good with paying a little chunk more on each card to get them paid off, but now the monthly minimum has tripled and I am almost to the point where I can't pay them at all!


I'm sure most of you are saying "Just call and get them to reduce it" Well, easier said than done. I've done it and they won't. You are also probably saying something to the affect that if I would have paid on time, and not went over our limit that they can't raise the interest rate. Well, every month I pay our bills a week to 2 weeks early, and I always pay more then is the minimum (I don't want to spend the rest of my life paying their interest!), and we NEVER went over our limit on ANY of our cards. SO, guess what their reasoning was for raising our rates?

1. We had a couple of recent inquires on our credit report. I was very curious about this as we haven't applied for anything in over a year, so I we and got a free credit report that showed NO INQUIRIES!

2. They said we had too many cards with high balances. Well, we have way too many cards, and are balances are about in the mid section on them. BUT, why would this be a reason to raise our rate?!

You would think that the credit card companies would go by your responsiblility and such with that company! Why does it matter how many cards with balances we have when we pay at least double what is owed (or at least we use to be able to afford to!), and we always paid on time. I guess they don't like the fact we want to pay off our cards instead of giving them the interest! I guess thats why they raised my rates, so they will get that much more interest!
WELL, To hell with credit cards. I have had it with credit cards, shopping, and supporting the economy! When we get this refund in May, it will all go to credit card bills or half to bills and half to savings!

This week I was so proud of myself! I did a total inventory of our freezers, fridge, and pantry. Then I went on to make a menu for the week. Doing this little bit of extra work made it so I only had to spend $21 for groceries for the week! YEAH! This is a savings of about $100 for me!
The next thing that I was proud of was the fact that I bypassed Starbucks several times this week! Since they opened in my neighborhood I was frequently stopping there for a coffee, at $4 a pop, per day! YIKES! I started making my own coffee at home instead, basically telling myself that I am FED UP with spending money, and I flat won't do it if I don't have to! Don't get me wrong, I have gone to starbucks this week, but I have changed what I am getting to A cup of tea at $1.85, or a regular cup of joe for the same price or less! I feel like this is a great accomplishment for me, to go to having just 1 cup of tea, and 1 cup of coffee @ $1.85 compared to 7 to 10 Caramel Macchiato's, or Pepperment Mocha's @ $4, not to mention this is great on my waistline!!!! & 2. Shop at home first! Also, I was able to sell a few things on ebay to pay an extra $50 on my HSBC credit card, and save some money for a change! YEAH!

Until next time, continue to "STICK TO YOUR MISSION"!

So What?!

I was just reading somewhere recently that when you start worrying about something, or something is on your mind that just won't go away you need to say "So What?" to yourself. I have started using this, and my inner child has started stuttering! It's so funny! Like yesterday I was saying to myself " I can't believe I racked up a bunch of debt again when a year ago we just got ourselves out of it" I then said "So what?" "Well, I owe even more now because I have a 2nd mortgage now AND the new debt" "So what?" Then I started thinking " You know what? So What?" I would have gotten back into debt no matter what as I had not TOTALLY learned my lesson yet" I keep wanting that Quck Fix to get me out of debt again, but you know what, but saying "So What" I have felt so much better and learned that I didn't get myself into debt overnight, and it would be overnight that I will get myself out of debt. One thing I did do is that I gave the debt, and the mode of getting into debt to the universe, I know that the universe will help me to figure these things out! So don't beat yourself up about things that are in the past, I have learned to say "SO WHAT" and it does really work and really help! Let me know what you think, and if you have ever told yourself "So What?" and what's happened!

How will you spend your stimulus refund?

So, how are all of you going to spend your stimulus refund? I have been debating about this over and over. Do I put it all in savings and don't touch it, unless we need money for gas that is! LOL. Or do we pay off a credit card or put this towards paying off a credit card? Or do we spend it on going on a vacation? The last thought really is one that I feel is a pipe dream right now, I would love to get out of Sandpoint (permanently, I wish!) for a week or two, but I just feel like it's not the smartest thing I could do with this money, even though that's what the government wants us to do, go out and spend it on non-necessities and vacations!
I would really like to hear from all of you as to what you are going to do with this refund, it's interesting!