Results & A Step Back

So that little "experiment" I was talking about? It was basically coupons & limiting buying. I love to browse & find something to purchase. I been on a coupon binge in an attempt to save some money (too bad my mother doesn't share the same sentiment & never looks at them). Anyway, in one week of using coupons I was able to save $6-8 bucks off purchases. Know it might not be a lot but that's money for 1 meal, 4 meals if you pull the college ramen trick. And that can go a long way. So I'm going to use more coupons when I go out. I'm also going to tag along with my mother when she goes shopping since I found coupons for items she buys & try to get her to use them. I found a coupon for Country Crock last week & told her about it. But then she ignored the coupon & paid full price. She could use a lesson in saving some money, even if it is just 50¢.

Also I have accumulated new debt (like $100 more), but I also paid some of that off. I haven't done my May total yet so I'll update my Debt tracker later on today. I'm afraid of the results.

Somewhat New Plan & An Experiment

So my goal was to pay off my debt. Now I'm altering it so that I have an overall debt of $500 on all my cards. This way they stay current & open. I haven't made any large dents in the past week due to unsure of funds but I'm hoping to take care of that at the end of the month.

Also, I'm going to do my own little "experiment" when I go out later today or tomorrow. I'll post up my results later in the week.

Closing Credit Card Fear

I've been reading posts people have put on complaints.com about 2 banks I have credit cards with. The research came after watching an episode of the Suze Orman show where she was talking about how banks are closing credit cards as soon as someone's balance is paid in full. One bank had complaints about this practice as current as of last week. Another trend I noticed is that some banks are even lowering credit cards limits so that a customer ends up being charged for an over the limit fee. I haven't had that happen to me yet (knock on wood), but I'm very worried about that happening.

Even if they are evil, credit is needed in our society. While I want to pay off my cards I do not want the lines to close. They can be useful is there's an emergency, plus a good credit history can go a long way. So now I have to think is it better to pay them all over or to keep a minimum but manageable balance on the cards so that they can stay open.

This doesn't mean I'm going to stop paying down, though. I just need to figure out another way to do this so that won't hurt my credit score.

First Post-Intro

I was going to make what I wrote on the About page a blog post, but decided against it. Instead, this is a official hi post. Hope to really accomplish this goal for myself :)