When my grandmother stopped her treatment for cancer in early 2020, I knew that I would be spending time with her.

She raised me as her own child and I lived with her my entire life until I moved out for my first professional job that required me to live in provided housing. 

I still called her every single night.

As she stopped treatment, we knew she would die. So, what grandma wanted, grandma got.

I used my credit cards a lot to cover any purchases I needed to make at that time.

I spent a lot of money to make sure that I could see her and that she was happy and I don’t regret a single dollar.

But, I’m dealing with the consequences.

A lot of people, myself included, like to have high credit limits.

To be quite honest, it was a point of pride for me.
That meant it became a downfall.

Having the limit to spend meant that I did spend it, no questions asked.

I saw something I wanted, knew that I had the extra room on my account, and out came the plastic (or better yet, click went the “Buy now” button).

Poor decision making at its best and I’m very much paying for it.

But, you know what? 

I learned from it.

I’ve started to implement a couple of strategies to avoid spending additional money that I don’t have.

1. I’ve started an entertainment savings account and drop $5 in it every week.

2. I’ve started really using Digit for bigger goals/accounts (like a new video game or a mechanic or vet fund or annual subscriptions like Amazon Prime or my renters insurance.

By putting these strategies into action over time, I’ll be able to draw down the amount of spending I just toss onto my credit cards by putting money aside that I can use, no questions asked.

My ultimate goal, whether smart or not, is to actually slowly close credit cards as I pay them off.

In echoing the advice that I’ve read a thousand times across the internet, use credit cards carefully and pay them off each month.

(But don’t beat yourself up if you carry a small balance because sometimes things truly do happen.)