I shared earlier about not having a credit card. Well, I still don’t have a replacement and I’m settling in well into accepting that. I also don’t think I will be getting a replacement card as the benefit I have gotten so far from not having one outweighs all the reward points I ever got.
I grew up in a society where a credit card is not an option. It just didn’t exist and until I moved out of the country years ago most transactions were cash based, a small percentage used debit cards with very few super high networth individuals having access to a credit card. As at now, a credit card is still not accessible to the general populace. From my first credit card I got over 10years ago till I stopped using it last year, I paid my bills in full at the end of the month and never incurred fees.
So why am I giving it up? Using a credit card made it too easy for me to shop and I bought a lot of things I didn’t need. Whenever I got the shopping bug, it was way too easy to add to cart and checkout. This led to overspending and building up clutter. Not having a credit card is not for everyone considering it’s near impossible to get some things done without one. The benefits I got from no credit card so far are:
- Immediate reduction in my spending. I find myself scrolling and adding to cart with no payment method and just abandon afterwards. I now have reduced interest in acquiring things just for the sake of it. I still get the intense urge but just give in less
- I don’t worry about my end of month credit card bill. I spend what I have only
- It enables me have a forced pause between what I want to buy and when I buy it. During this forced pause, I reflect on if I really need to make the purchase and mostly do only when it’s justified
- It’s enabling me curb my overgifting. I’m that person that will offer to pay stuff for people without thinking about it and now that I’m cardless I do this less
For some instance, I absolutely need to pay via a card e.g. hotel booking and when this happens I use a Revolut one time use virtual card. It’s convenient for such throwaway uses.