Credit Card Statement Shock

As the holidays have past us, even if only a few days ago, many of us are receiving our credit card statements in the mail. Being generous in December is finally coming back to haunt us in January. We all want to be generous to those we love--and yet, we realize that there is often a limit to what we can give. Sometimes we stick within those limits, at other times we don't. It makes us feel good about ourselves when we can give something wonderful to others. It sure made me feel wonderful to give my eldest brother a collection of cordless powertools for Christmas.

One of my New Year's Resolutions actually was started 2 years ago around this time. I have promised myself to relieve myself of all credit card debt, cancel all but one of them (at that time), and live off the money I save (rather than the money I borrow). I am closer now than I was 2 years ago and am working on a 5-year timeline. So I have 3-more years to go. Upon re-examining what I owe, I am right on course. Even though I have acquired some additional debt when I was hospitalized 5 months ago, I still think I can stick to my 5-year plan (I just won't have as much in savings as I'd like).

Of course, I do have room to tweak what I am already doing. If you're thinking about tweaking what you're already doing or have yet to begin anything, here is a great post to give you some great ideas and inspiration.

The post may inspire you when you realize it's one thing to live paycheck to paycheck, it's another to do so without a gameplan to guide your finances.