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This year I am doing both. I am committing to HomeRoutines (review coming soon), which is a new good habit. I want my house to be clean and uncluttered and to always be ready for visitors.
Bigger and more important is that I am giving up my credit cards for Lent. I am going to use cash for most purchases, which requires planning because I don't usually carry much cash. For groceries and gas, I will use my debit card. Because today is Ash Wednesday, I took my credit cards out of my wallet. I also commit to no Amazon.com, no iTunes purchases, no online shopping at all for the rest of Lent. If I want to buy something non-essential, I need to go to the ATM to get cash to do it, which will hopefully cut down or eliminate impulse purchases.
When I buy something with my credit card, it feels less painful than if I am using a debit card, which is stupid, because using the credit card costs more. My long-term goal is to pay off the credit cards completely and then never carry a balance again. Not using the cards until Easter should make that easier.
Often the habits I test during Lent become permanent ones, like giving up regular and diet soda (I still drink seltzer) or giving up fast food restaurants (which I never really liked anyway). I'm hoping this will be another one that I can make permanent.
Do you do Lent at all?
added this to my Lent collection for next year. Very good post. And it made me think of something that would REALLY help me - Take care of each day's mail the minute it comes in the house - no pile. I think that I can focus on it during Lent. And by the end of Lent, it will be a habit.
ReplyI've been living your long-term goal of never carrying a credit-card balance for more than 20 years. We use our credit cards for nearly everything. But, we earn reward points, so it makes sense to use them as long as we commit to paying the entire bill every month. It's just part of the budget. Sometimes that bill is pretty huge, if we've taken a trip or had to buy new tires, but it's always manageable. It's a very good goal, and I've no doubt you'll make it.
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