I'm going to go against the grain and vote with your husband. Cash is king. Save the money.

The reason we get into debt is because we have this idea that we need to spend every single penny that comes into our pocket. When an emergency comes up or a financial opportunity comes along, we don't have the money already set aside deal with it.

Or worse, we see all that money accumulating in our savings accounts or investments and think we have to liquidate in order to treat ourselves to something big. After a while we have to learn that having savings and investments are good unto themselves and we don't have to use the principal for anything. We want the balance to grow so one day we can use the interest income.

Yeah, $300 seems small now but you'll never get to the point where you can use your interest income until you start.

That $400 credit card bill should be painful to pay off. It should be such an agonizing experience that you never want to charge to a credit card again. It should be a complete waste of money to have used that credit card and paying down that balance should be a monthly reminder of the financial mistake that was charging in the first place. If you pay off a debt with one fell-swoop, we start telling ourselves that it is okay to charge up a credit card again because you can always pay it off later (... when our tax return comes in, ... with the next bonus check, ... when I get that inheritance, ... when I win the lottery.)

I really like that your husband hates to part with money. Good attitude! Stick the money in savings or, better yet, purchase US Savings Bonds with it so you'll less tempted to liquidate it.

I totally agree, I would get rid of that credit card debt as soon as possible

For Sure the Credit Card!!!! Then next month what you would have paid on the credit card you can pay on the other bills ( movie club, etc.) Good Luck.

I agree with Cookie on this one. We think we're being smart by paying off a bill that's being charged interest but what if an emergency happens down the line? You end up racking up more debt. It's a nasty cycle.

Thing about cash is once you have it, unless you part with it, you have it. If you put all toward a bill then it's gone.

It should be painful to pay off the CC- it reminds why debts are not a nice thing.

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Devin

David 6, Alexis 2