Life without credit, so far.

Have you ever considered a life without credit. Okay, not everyone gets a mortgage and you might be sensible and actually save to buy a car or have a holiday with cash. But think about all the times you use your credit card. Every time you do use it, ask yourself if you could use cash in that particular situation and why you are using credit instead.

It’s just so bloody convenient that’s why!

I know I’ll feel the loss of a credit rating a hell of a lot more when I finally move out of Mum and Dad’s place. I’m not sure about the phone and electricity but it appears that I may have to pay at least part of my bills upfront or subscribe to a direct debit system which means I’ll have to be damn sure I have the money in the bank. That’s the thing about having no credit, when you reach the end of your pay period, there is nowhere to go. Having credit, especially credit cards, gives your budget some comforting elasticity. Even the best budgeter has cash-flow problems occasionally and a credit card can see you through a long month or a planned expense that arrives a little early. I don’t have that luxury any more.

I was surprised how much I’ve missed my credit card. I’d had it since I was 21, I knew the number off by heart, but I didn’t think I was dependent on it. I’ve really missed it, though.

My biggest beef is how limited I am in purchasing anything over the phone or on the internet. Concert and theatre tickets are the worst. I have to ask my mum if I can use her credit card and then pay her cash. I’m not whining about it, my mum is an angel for letting me do it (would you give a bankrupt your credit card number?). But otherwise I would have to take time off work to go and stand in line for hours to buy tickets with cash – do people still do that?

I was delighted to find that PayPal does not require a credit card to set up an account, you can set one up with an ordinary savings or cheque account but that’s really only any good for eBay. Amazon and iTunes don’t accept PayPal, you must have a credit card to purchase from both of those sites.

I suppose I could get a Visa Debit Card but they cost $5 a month in fees and when you’re only getting $70 a week for incidentals, five bucks seems like a lot.

What I didn’t know: There are accounts at the bank that have NO FEES AT ALL. I went to the bank to set up some extra accounts for my direct debits for insurance etc. I confessed to the consultant that I was bankrupt and was having all my accounts managed by MyBudget. She changed my everyday account to a type of “pensioner” account meant for people receiving Centrelink payments. She even gave me a piggy bank! Ironically, this was one of the banks I defaulted on.

It’s not so bad. Actually, it’s forcing me to plan better and making me aware of how reliant I was on credit cards. I know this sounds crazy but I am actually quite good with money. No, stop laughing, really. Alright, maybe I thought I was quite good with money. My current situation is a bit like being on a very strict diet. You never realized how many calories you were consuming and how big your servings were until you started practicing portion control. No wonder those stretchy credit cards were so comfy!