Upon paying off between $12,000 (Dh44,070) and $15,000 in credit card debt in 2019, Yamiesha Bell, a special-education teacher in New York, didn’t break up with her credit cards.
With goals to buy a car and a house, Ms Bell hoped to preserve her credit history by keeping her cards open and active.
“I needed to sustain my credit to get the interest rates I wanted in the future,” she says.
While credit cards are not ideal for everyone, they can aid your credit journey if used responsibly.
When reconciling with credit cards, you need a personalised stay-out-of-debt plan. Here are a few strategies to consider.
Reflect on spending habits
Maybe you ditched debt, but history can repeat if you don’t unpack the motivations that contributed to it.
A get-out-of-debt plan that works in the short term may not be sustainable over the long term if it doesn’t align with your priorities, says Julia Kramer, a financial behaviour and leadership consultant at Signature Financial Planning in the US.
Ms Kramer suggests tracking transactions dating back a week or more. Add a plus sign next to those purchases you’re willing to repeat and a minus sign next to those you’re not. For obligatory purchases such as petrol and groceries, add an equal sign.
Note the date, the item purchased, the amount and the need the purchase met. Those frequent lattes or meals out with friends may be more about the personal connection experienced, or something else, as opposed to the gratification provided by the item, Ms Kramer adds.
This information is key to identifying areas in your budget that are negotiable. For example, you may be more willing to choose budget-friendly food to keep a facial that meets an internal need for self-care and connection, she says.
If your spending strays upon experiencing feelings such as anxiousness or boredom, make a plan for those occasions. It might mean budgeting extra money or employing tricks such as using a credit card lock feature to prevent spending.
Use cash for certain categories
If you want to reel in spending on categories such as dining out or entertainment, for example, set aside physical cash to stay within budget.
Money in hand can lead to more mindful spending, Ms Kramer says.
Track spending
Create a tracking system that works for you. Setting up spending alerts on a credit card account can notify you if purchases exceed a certain amount.
Tracking spending with a spreadsheet, bullet journal or budgeting app, for instance, can also help with mental accounting.
“I would not open up credit cards if you do not have a system in place where you track spending every month,” Ms Kramer says. “It has to be something that appeals to you that you know you’re going to do.”
For Ms Bell, a cash envelope tracking system helps her manage spending in different categories, including her credit card bill payment.
“When you look in a cash envelope and you see you only have $50, it’s very clear that once that money runs out there’s nothing else I can do,” she says.
Use credit cards for planned purchases only
Ease your way back into credit cards with small planned purchases, such as a subscription service payment.
After paying off debt, Ms Bell only uses credit cards for in-budget purchases and she pays them off in full each month to avoid interest charges.
Initially, she left her credit card at home to avoid relying on it.
Have an emergency fund to fall back on
An emergency fund of even $500 for a car or home repair may keep debt off your credit cards.
Start small and aim, eventually, to cast a wider safety net over time — ideally, three to six months of living expenses stowed in a high-yield savings account.
If you previously got used to budgeting a certain amount each month to pay creditors, keep that momentum going, but direct funds towards savings instead.
Don’t store credit card information on websites or apps
Convenient payment options can sometimes lead to mindless spending.
By entering payment information into forms for every online purchase, you’ll have more time to think through a purchase.
Get an accountability partner
A non-judgemental partner or trusted loved one can offer input on a purchase or a stay-out-of-debt plan.
An accountability partner can be a sounding board who lets you listen out loud to your own justifications for financial decisions.
Update your strategy
As motivations and priorities change, your stay-out-of-debt plan should follow. Continue revisiting credit card statements to identify the needs that are being met by purchases and which are most important.
If in this process, you continue having frequent run-ins with debt, consider closing credit card accounts even if it can negatively impact credit scores.
“A big thing about this is knowing yourself and knowing what your challenge areas are and finding ways that work around them,” Ms Bell says.
“Five years from now, it might look different, but for right now that’s what works.”
Red Joan
Director: Trevor Nunn
Starring: Judi Dench, Sophie Cookson, Tereza Srbova
Rating: 3/5 stars
The specs
Engine: Four electric motors, one at each wheel
Power: 579hp
Torque: 859Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh825,900
On sale: Now
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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If you go
The flights
There are direct flights from Dubai to Sofia with FlyDubai (www.flydubai.com) and Wizz Air (www.wizzair.com), from Dh1,164 and Dh822 return including taxes, respectively.
The trip
Plovdiv is 150km from Sofia, with an hourly bus service taking around 2 hours and costing $16 (Dh58). The Rhodopes can be reached from Sofia in between 2-4hours.
The trip was organised by Bulguides (www.bulguides.com), which organises guided trips throughout Bulgaria. Guiding, accommodation, food and transfers from Plovdiv to the mountains and back costs around 170 USD for a four-day, three-night trip.
Some of Darwish's last words
"They see their tomorrows slipping out of their reach. And though it seems to them that everything outside this reality is heaven, yet they do not want to go to that heaven. They stay, because they are afflicted with hope." - Mahmoud Darwish, to attendees of the Palestine Festival of Literature, 2008
His life in brief: Born in a village near Galilee, he lived in exile for most of his life and started writing poetry after high school. He was arrested several times by Israel for what were deemed to be inciteful poems. Most of his work focused on the love and yearning for his homeland, and he was regarded the Palestinian poet of resistance. Over the course of his life, he published more than 30 poetry collections and books of prose, with his work translated into more than 20 languages. Many of his poems were set to music by Arab composers, most significantly Marcel Khalife. Darwish died on August 9, 2008 after undergoing heart surgery in the United States. He was later buried in Ramallah where a shrine was erected in his honour.
The specs
Engine: 2x201bhp AC Permanent-magnetic electric
Transmission: n/a
Power: 402bhp
Torque: 659Nm
Price estimate: Dh200,000
On sale: Q3 2022
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The chef's advice
Troy Payne, head chef at Abu Dhabi’s newest healthy eatery Sanderson’s in Al Seef Resort & Spa, says singles need to change their mindset about how they approach the supermarket.
“They feel like they can’t buy one cucumber,” he says. “But I can walk into a shop – I feed two people at home – and I’ll walk into a shop and I buy one cucumber, I’ll buy one onion.”
Mr Payne asks for the sticker to be placed directly on each item, rather than face the temptation of filling one of the two-kilogram capacity plastic bags on offer.
The chef also advises singletons not get too hung up on “organic”, particularly high-priced varieties that have been flown in from far-flung locales. Local produce is often grown sustainably, and far cheaper, he says.
The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
1,000 Books to Read Before You Die: A Life-Changing List
James Mustich, Workman
RESULT
Esperance de Tunis 1 Guadalajara 1
(Esperance won 6-5 on penalties)
Esperance: Belaili 38’
Guadalajara: Sandoval 5’
The biog
Name: Younis Al Balooshi
Nationality: Emirati
Education: Doctorate degree in forensic medicine at the University of Bonn
Hobbies: Drawing and reading books about graphic design
UK-EU trade at a glance
EU fishing vessels guaranteed access to UK waters for 12 years
Co-operation on security initiatives and procurement of defence products
Youth experience scheme to work, study or volunteer in UK and EU countries
Smoother border management with use of e-gates
Cutting red tape on import and export of food
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
Sweet%20Tooth
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The specs: 2018 Chevrolet Trailblazer
Price, base / as tested Dh99,000 / Dh132,000
Engine 3.6L V6
Transmission: Six-speed automatic
Power 275hp @ 6,000rpm
Torque 350Nm @ 3,700rpm
Fuel economy combined 12.2L / 100km
JUDAS AND THE BLACK MESSIAH
Directed by: Shaka King
Starring: Daniel Kaluuya, Lakeith Stanfield, Jesse Plemons
Four stars
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
ESSENTIALS
The flights
Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh via Yangon from Dh2,700 return including taxes. Cambodia Bayon Airlines and Cambodia Angkor Air offer return flights from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap from Dh250 return including taxes. The flight takes about 45 minutes.
The hotels
Rooms at the Raffles Le Royal in Phnom Penh cost from $225 (Dh826) per night including taxes. Rooms at the Grand Hotel d'Angkor cost from $261 (Dh960) per night including taxes.
The tours
A cyclo architecture tour of Phnom Penh costs from $20 (Dh75) per person for about three hours, with Khmer Architecture Tours. Tailor-made tours of all of Cambodia, or sites like Angkor alone, can be arranged by About Asia Travel. Emirates Holidays also offers packages.
