When I was younger, I got a great paying job without having finished high school. I was bringing in $3,200 a month at one point. When I was 18, I applied for a credit card with the full intentions of paying off the balance each and every month. This, of course, isn’t how it played out.

After buying a car for $400 cash, then having to replace the clutch disk, the master cylinder, then the slave, then the master, then the slave (silly mechanic), after spending all my savings I broke down and used my credit card to pay for the mechanic and supplies. Eventually, my card became too easy to use and my bank continued to increase my spending limit.

I bought a brand new car, and things just spiralled out of control. By the time I was 20, I was already $20k in debt. My grandma passed away when I was 23 and left behind some money which I immediately put onto my credit card after reserving a small amount for a washer and dryer. Shortly thereafter, I was accepted into nursing school and immediately dove back into debt in order to pay for daycare, my car insurance, gas money, food, text books, and so forth.

Now with a car loan and consumer debt, I am starting to slowly climb back out. At this rate, I should be able to be debt free in… Six years. That is if I am to make minimum payments and not use any of my credit to accrue more debt. I have “misplaced” my credit card on purpose and avoid using my bank card. It’s all cash from here on out.

I thought I’d post about this so that I can hold myself accountable for the small purchases I make. For example, the other day I bought a bag of chips and a pop for my drive home from dropping the kids off with their dad. haha

I haven’t spent much on myself at all lately. The last item of clothing I had purchased were bras back in June because I had weaned my youngest and no longer fit my bras. He weaned in February, yet it took me until June to finally spend money on something that was relatively needed. Then I spent the whole summer wishing and pining after dresses and finally for my birthday, I spent some birthday cash on four dresses for $90. And now it’s raining. 😛