To Spend or Not to Spend, That is the Question

Since 9/11, we've been counseled that spending money is taking back our lifestyle from terrorism, but now things have changed. People are more mindful of spending money, both in how to spend it and if to spend.

Because I had started cutting back before 9/11, I wasn't sucked back into spending mode; not that I'd have had any money to spend, what with all the consumer debt and student loans I had at the time. Thrift hasn't been a consideration in this country in years. We can learn a lot from Japan, which, not too long ago, lost a decade due to financial implosion.

I doubt we'll have the same problem; people here just don't seem to learn. Right now, despite all the information out there on credit cards, people don't pay close attention to the terms of their account. Meaning that they're more likely to lose track of their interest rate, balance, due date, adherence to payment schedule and spending. Never good things to lose track of.

It's so easy to get sucked back in. Yesterday I received my credit card bill, and opened it, despite knowing I haven't used it since making my most recent payment; as a born-again transactor, I need to pay the bill in full, no matter how tempting it is to pay only a portion of it. I was happy to see a zero balance and find, under payment due, the word NONE.

While I still spend money, sometimes frivolously, I try to be more careful about how I spend and my method of payment; so far it has worked well for me. I'm also more aware of due dates for my bills than I have been at times in the past; late payments on credit cards do not bode well for interest rates. As we're so accustomed to spending, I believe that cutbacks in doing so will only last as long as the recession; once people are working again and the economy isn't as bad, spending will once again seem normal.

Every month during which I a) pay off my credit card balance, if any, in its entirety, and b) make payments on my student loans, is a month which reduces my debt.