Confessions of a Shopaholic

Blog #2 of the night? Why the heck not?!

(All my midterms are finished!)

Anyway, lately I did something kind of crazy. I know! Me? Something crazy? But really folks. Really. 

Okay, so you all know how much I love to SHOP! I love clothes and shoes and jewelry and Mary Kay products and all that jazz but when I first moved out here to Utah three years ago I didn't really have a whole lot of money. 

What I did have was a plastic little card with a "free" money on it. 

Yes, a credit card. That devilish plastic enemy to the financially ignorant. (aka ME)

Needless to say, that thing was maxed out in no time at all. 

Since then, I have realized the error of my ways. In all seriousness though, I have. It is way too tempting to have money that totally isn't really mine. It didn't do anything for my confidence and it didn't really help me in the financial area of my life, no matter how much I told myself it did. 

A movie came out awhile back (2009) titled "Confessions of a Shopaholic" and it was quite inspiring. 

I decided right after I saw it (in late 2009) that the credit card thing was a bad idea because I didn't know what I was doing with it. 

The inspiration, however, just wasn't enough. Still, my card remained maxed out. No plan was made to overcome my immaturity, ignorance and irresponsibility. I'd pay off a bit here and there just to turn around and use it again. 

DUMB. 

Then this past year (2011-November 20th to be exact) I started dating this really awesome guy. (I've mentioned him before.) I realized that I didn't feel comfortable knowing that I had this credit card debt. Forget about the fact that I had just started dating him. I immediately felt like I needed to revamp my financial life. There were way too many "what if" questions that began popping into my head that I just couldn't quiet. 

This guy (whom I love and who is the most wonderful person EVER) initiated a new chapter in my life and I knew right then that it was time to change. 

After writing down my plan I started off on a journey to financial maturity. Ironically I'm in a class right now that focuses on building and enhancing Marriages and Family Relationships. In this class we discussed heavily that unnecessary debt is a major breaking point for relationships. 

Well, if that little message (from the Lord, I believe) didn't light the fire under my booty I don't know what would have!

I decided that it was time to act. I filed my taxes and waited patiently (ha) for my refund to come rolling in. 

And wouldn't you know it? My computer decided to start to die. It has issues staying on, even while plugged in. It doesn't save info when I tell it to, the screen won't light up when it isn't plugged in, it makes this scary noise when I turn it on and off, it won't let me run iTunes...the list goes on. 

I was tempted, just ask Neil, to jump on the opportunity to buy a new laptop. I planned out when I'd buy it and which one I'd buy. I was so excited and then something hit me. That number. The number of dollars I still had to pay to get this credit card out of my life. 

I had a choice. 

Buy a computer or get out of debt. 

I decided to put on my big girl panties, put my trust in the Lord (can you say those two things in the same sentence??) and do it. 

I PAID OFF MY CREDIT CARD DEBT. ALL OF IT.

Not only that but I closed the card and the bank account associated with it. Twenty-Two years old, you'd think that this wouldn't be a big deal but it is to me. It has been a long time coming and I feel a lot more confident not only in my ability to manage my finances but in my relationship, in my plan to save more than spend...I feel like a better version of me.

Three years, lots of money and one fantastic eye-opening experience later, I am credit card debt free. 

I feel free. I really do.