Saving money or spending it with a help of credit?

From time to time I wonder if I would like to be a minimalist in my life or collect anything what is beautiful and have plenty of different things.

I guess, this year 2014 will be forever in my mind as the stupiest year of my life. In the end of 2013 when I got a scholarship (from my university) for the first time in my life I started going crazy with buying things, clothes, cosmetics, food that I have never had before. I started even borrow from people, who I know money to buy something earlier that I liked or was in sales promotion (before the time scholarship arrived to my bank account) and I still have debts, which I have to pay off with a help of my new scholarship for the year 2015.

This short story is like a lesson for me: "Don't spend more money than you have". But what with dreams, our goals and different kind of accessories that we need to have to achieve these goals?

Maybe in my case, life in minimalism will come after classification of things that I REALLY NEED not which I liked.

Well, my dad is an inspiration for me. He has his own home bank. And he borrow money from himself, not from the bank.
It seems funny, but for some reason wise.

But being a student and not buy this or that is a little bit difficult.

Hope, when I will be a working woman I will not take any credit.

And what about YOU? Do you like collecting money and spend it after years of hard work or a person, who takes credits very often and give it back to the bank after making dreams come true?

You have to make credit work in your advantage.

Easier said than done for most people.

SNL skit - credit card debt

I have never owned a credit card.
You need to get off credit as well as you can. It will only help you.
This is why I have no public debt.

Instead of thinking 'credit card' think 'slavery'.

Slavery Card

Someone Else is My MasterCard

Not VISA but 'VICE-GRIP' on your life, your time, your sanity Card.

Before you buy anything on credit especially a mortgage, take a good long hard look at the amortization schedule (the Latin word for 'death' is in there, that should be a clue) and figure out how much money you're really going to pay for that house.

Now factor in taxes, utilities, upkeep, a new roof every so often, and furniture, carpeting and all that stuff House Beautiful wants you to buy for it... all on credit, of course.

You'll be out millions (AKA Tens of Thousands of Hours of Your Life) and depending on what our Banking SlaveDrivers have in mind for us, you'll never get it paid off, you'll never own anything, and you won't be able to enjoy it really either, because you'll be at work all the time paying for it, or mowing the grass or shoveling the snow or whatever.

'Ef It. Think small, think citizen, not consumer. Starve the Banks.

I use mine for medical bills right now. I also used my credit card for a new computer this past Summer because mine was so old and I really needed one. It will have to last me a long time. In the past I would set a limit for myself and pay the whole bill off when it came in. Some people have no control and just go wild. To them, it is like free money. It isn't! Eventually you have to pay that credit card back. If you see something you really want and shop around for the cheapest price, as long as you know you can pay it off quickly then fine.

I overheard a friend tell her daughter once - if you're always buying what you want, you'll never have all you need.

That stuck with me....

That said, I do have debt, and no savings.
At least the debt is a mortgage. Which is considered "good" debt.

Credit cards, with their high interest rates, makes everything bought on them so much more expensive.
Paying for those interest charges, is money just thrown away.

a reply to: signalfire

You just summed up everything I wanted to say about this topic so well that I had to star you for it. If I could give you a hundred stars I would... I am speaking from the other side of the issue though. I went back to college in 2004 and graduated in 2007. This racked up $50,000 in debt. I also got married in 2005 while I was in college and that messed things up because my wife is like most women who want everything now and want all kind of nice things. I had gone through a divorce not long before I married my wife and that left me in a bad way. I make good money now, but I feel like I will never climb out of this debt hole. If I could do it over I would never borrow any money.

a reply to: AnnieWolf19

I'm one of those people who have alsways saved for a rainy day. Even when I was kid I would lay on my bed and count my money each day. At an early age as a young man I realised I had to have my own place to live.

After 40 years in the workforce I now have my own home and a small amount of savings but not enough to be able to retire.

Spending money is alluring and is made more so through temptation, slick advertising, marketing and peer pressure but you will only ever save by become single minded about it, if that is what you want to do, by planning your life, developing a plan for realizing it and resolving in your heart and mind that you are going to get it.

At 60 years of age I have learned that there is a difference between deciding to do something and resolving to do something. Only by resolving to do something will you execute your plan through the temptation to spend money.

Resolve is more powerful than mere deciding.

Credit cards come in handy, but some people just shouldn't have them. I use mine when I want to but only if I know I will have the money coming in to pay it off. i also only have one credit card. I cancelled others I used to have.

Stompin Tom sang "Another sale on something, we'll buy it while it's hot, and save a lot of money spending money we don't got."
If you want something, save for it and decide if you still want it once you can afford it.