What are some habits you started during some life-changing event, that you've retained still, long after that event has passed?

For years I was a credit card junkie and in serious debt. Seven years ago, after paying it all off, which took three hard years, I vowed to use my debit rather than credit cards whenever possible, but when necessary to use credit never to charge anything I couldn’t pay off in two weeks. I’ve stuck to that religiously ever since and, except for a mortgage and auto loan, have zero balances. It’s a great feeling, let me tell you.

My Daughter’s birth was the most fortunate event in my life. When my daughter started crawling I used to sweep and mop every day, which I continue even now. I still sleep with a night light on, to check her at night and put an extra blanket on her on extremely cold nights(she is 9 now and complains that she is grown up)

Smoking! bah!
Whenever I am really stressed I want a cigarette…it sucks!
As someone once said ( Mark Twain? ) ” It’s easy to quit smoking, I have done it hundreds of times.” Pffft!

@Pachyderm_In_The_Room Oh you lucky boy you! I was debt free forever and now buried, oh the good old days, yes, nothing better than being debt free. Humph!
It is very discouraging, very! :-(

I have been debt free in my life. Then I met Rick. He thinks credit is the best thing since sliced toast. I absolutely hate it.

No matter how much money is in my accounts or savings, I will never feel rich or comfortable spending money, ever. I broke down this weekend and went to a shoe sale and bought a new pair of lovely black loafers for $16, while my husband got a pair of new Reeboks for $25. That was hard for me and we needed them – lol, it’s ridiculous but when you go without you get used to it.

@Dutchess III You better nip that in the bud, credit is the Debil!! You have Rick message me, I’ll give him a lecture that’ll burn his ears!! :)

After some foolish years in my early-20s and credit card bills that I couldn’t pay, I decided to grow up. For a while, I worked 3 jobs (no, that’s not a typo; I had a full-time job plus 2 part-time jobs) to pay off the bills. Since then, I’ve kept tight control over my charges, and I’ve always paid the full balance due every month.

Credit cards are a part of reality. Even though I don’t like them, they’re needed for airline and hotel reservations, rental cars, and online shopping. The lessons I learned were to track each month’s charges – no big shocks when the statement arrives – and never charge anything unnecessarily.

I KNOW credit is the Debil! But I pretty much have it under control. Crosses fingers.

@SadieMartinPaul Well, you can use your debit card AS credit cards when necessary….

@Dutchess_III Yes, and if you want to use cash instead of credit, you can almost always pay in advance by money order or debit, like to rent a limo or something.

I have no major credit cards anymore, I cut them up so I could live debt free and in my means. In the next four months, I’ll be completely debt-free except my mortgage, I am so looking forward to it!!!

I cut my credit cards up many a year ago.
And why would I rent a limo?? I have a 1963 Volkswagen that I’d like to parade around in!

@Dutchess_III Just sayin, you don’t have to sacrifice service because you don’t use a credit card.

Love the old VW’s. You know when I got in the car wreck when I was young, I actually had a VW radio embedded in the back of my skull, and now I work in radio, go figure – lol

One of his patient death was associated with too much salt, so my doctor put me on a salt free diet when I was pregnant with my first child, 50 years ago. I have never gone back to using it.

But I’m saying the debit card functions exactly like a credit card. I also have an ODP of $750, so one could look at that as the “credit to be paid later” thing, only I don’t ever get into that unless I HAVE to. If needed, if my bank account was $0, I could go withdraw $750 and only be charged a $28 OD fee. Can’t beat that kind of interest rate!

How do you meet your salt requirements, @YARNLADY?

@Dutchess_III Tthere is salt in much of what I eat, such as breakfast cereal, 7% Even the label on the milk shows 7% of the daily requirement of sodium, bread, 10%, bagged salad, 1%. There’s no shortage of hidden salt.

Just makin’ sure cause we need salt! :)