I’ve said it a bunch of times here and, until recently, no one said a thing. I’ve made passing reference to how much I hate to owe people money, and no one made a peep. I don’t know when or why I starting hating owing money but I do.
It might be from watching my parents pull out cash to pay for most of our expenses growing up. It might be from my dad saying something like “why should I borrow money – I have money” when, as a kid, I asked why he didn’t borrow money very often – even for little things. It might be from laziness (yes, laziness – as in “too lazy to do math” when I look at my balances and try and figure out my cash position…). Or, it could be for some other (or no) reason.
But here are where the three questions I asked in the title of this post come up. Two people reached out to me today about my references to paying off credit cards as I go (as in not waiting for the bills to come but rather paying them off right after I charge items – making multiple online payments per month). They said that it’s not normal. In fact, they said I “need help.” So let me ask you two of the questions and I’ll answer the other one. These are the two questions for you:
- Is that normal?
- Should I care?
The third question (do I care?) is easy. No. I don’t care. I don’t worry about being “normal” because “normal” stinks a lot of times (not just with personal finance). “Normal” is another one of those words that make my blood boil and could cost you money. Ooh…. I forgot that one! I’ll have to do an updated post.
I don’t like the word “normal” when it comes to personal finance because it is often used as a crutch to make bad decisions. Sure, it’s probably “normal” to lease a car or take out a huge car loan, but I don’t think it’s a good financial decision (even with zero interest if you don’t have complete control of your finances). It’s also probably “normal” to make just the minimum payment on credit cards, but I don’t think anyone here will say that’s a good idea. So stop being “normal” and start being “wise!” Got it?
Sorry about the little rant there (actually, I’m not…).
Anyhow, back to the other two questions. Here are my answers.
- It’s not normal, but that’s a good thing. I’ll take out-of-debt and abnormal than in debt and normal any day of the week. I realize there is a “happy medium” of paying the bill off in full when it comes, and that’s what the two folks who wrote me “suggested.” But this is “personal” finance and I like looking at my Mint.com overview and seeing a whole bunch of zeros where the debt’s supposed to go I can’t wait until I’m done with my student loans and get one more zero…
- No, I don’t care, and I shouldn’t care. I should care about having healthy finances and not, as Dave Ramsey would say, “what broke people say about personal finance.” Again, I know there is a happy medium. But I like my happy extreme in this case. Plus, I don’t have to worry about missing payments – because I don’t have any!
What do you think? Does anyone else do this? Or am I completely abnormal?
Until next time, pay your credit card off, then put it down and slowly step away from the mall!
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