As I've mentioned my family doesn't really handle finances well. My mom's only advice on credit cards was "don't get one they're dangerous". I've heard this echoed in many different ways through my life and so I never got a credit card.
Two amazing friends of mine pushed me to get one...their hearts were in the right place and their reasons were off but it was the first time I bothered to actually look to see what credit cards were about. For years I said "I have student loans and I've had utilities in my name, it'll be enough for my credit." How very very wrong I was. I had no idea how much your credit was based on revolving credit.
Shortly after our conversation I signed up for my first credit card. I was too afraid to get refused so it was loaded with fees and such but I got approved and that's all that mattered. A year later I canceled that card and got one without all the baggage, then got a second one about a year after that to cover expenses while I wasn't working for a few weeks.
Overall I've racked up almost $4,000 in debt in about a year and a half. It was at this point at the very end of December that I said I need a budget...I stumbled onto YNAB that night and about 4 hours after finding it, the program went on sale for $15 and I bought it without a moment of hesitation. By the end of this month I'll be at about $3,000 in debt. That'll be 2 months after purchasing the software (and one fresh start). A large chunk of that is come from my taxes BUT I'm also not adding on anymore which I had been doing up to this point. The shrinking is going to slow down a lot after this, but I'm not getting further into debt.
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