Deep Freeze Your Credit Cards To Stop Spending
For those who aren't regularly reading our blog, we talked a couple of days ago about ways to limit your use of your credit cards.
Er, more specifically we blogged about how making your cards inaccessible to you can be a good way to help you control your spending. Well, after talking to the idea over a bit, we decided to see if in fact, freezing your credit cards can work.
First off, we got an old card that Miel wasn't using...
Its a debit card and I think the account linked to it isn't working anymore, but we took the cards numbers out of the pictures anyways. I guess studying criminology has made me a bit paranoid.
After that we, filled up the mug and put the credit card in...
Its kinda hard to tell, but yes this mug is full of water!
Next, we popped the mug in the freezer.
Three hours later the mug came out like this...
Viola!!! The card was deep frozen.
So just to end this post on an upbeat note if you owe money on your cards, this could be of some assistance. By the time you thawed out your card, your urge to buy crap like teletubbies or legos or whatever will have passed and you'll be one step closer to financial freedom!
Best,
James
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4 comments:
Hello! (I'm not saying you or Miel have this problem, but generally speaking.)
I never understand this. If a person has THAT much problem with self-control and finances, then they probably also exhibit self-control issues over things like food and sex. If so, it seems to me they should probably see a shrink about their pathological self-control issues because won't they just substitute something else instead of cutting off their credit cards?
Just a thought. Personally, just sticking them into my desk drawer helps me out. I try not to carry my credit card anymore unless I know there is something I must purchase that I can't cover with my debit card, i.e. that $850 car repair and $3K reimbursable tuition for work.
Why is not carrying a card not enough? Is there something else I don't get about people's spending habits? I'm very spendy, but not really on my credit cards.
Hi,
In an era when physical access to a credit card was generally needed for making purchases (a decade and more ago), this solution made sense. If you could not present the card to a merchant, you could not purchase the product on that line of credit.
In an era when you can spend on impulse without leaving home (at ebay, amazon, and hundreds of other places who graciously offer to remember your credit card details) without ever presenting the credit card, freezing the card doesn't seem like it would be all that helpful.
We probably need new tricks to provide the immediate impulse control ("I can't buy that right now; I have to go and get something [even though I'm home at a computer].") or the think-it-over delay ("Oh great, it will be hours before I can get the card out of this block of ice -- You know, I'm beginning to forget why the product seemed so good.").
That said, some people learn best when physical action is involved. Freezing the credit card may not *really* prevent anyone from splurging online, but the act of freezing a card may provide just enough extra consciousness of the peril of unchecked spending, that impulse control and think-about-it delay become easier to do.
Does freezing a card protect it from being used for purchases anymore? No. Does freezing a card help a person remember how important it is to control spending? Maybe, just maybe.
(And an old card from a defunct account frozen in a clear block of ice might just make a neat centerpiece and conversation starter for a dinner table.)
My husband and I have our no balance CC card in the freezer. The one we're working on paying off is in the bank deposit box.
We're certianally at a point where they don't need to be in either place, but it acts as a reminder to what our goals are, similiar to our charts hung around the house. If it helps, it helps.
I tried that trick a couple of times. It was just too darned easy to just thaw the thing out in 30 seconds under some hot water.
I've since learned better. ;)
Also, the freezer is one of the first places a burgler will look for valuables, since so many people think it's a fabulous hidding place.
DH
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