I was just reading an article at Kiplinger.com titled “50 Ways to Keep More Cash“. A lot of tips, suggested by readers, are bunched together in this article and are arranged in the following categories:
I read through all the tips and most of them were common sense ways of managing your money well. But, I would still recommend going through all of them….some things are just better understood when you read them over and over again.
One of the tips was a class apart, and I have to admit that I have never heard anything like this before 
It’s from a person named Kelly Colucci. Here is what Kelly had to say:
When I was in college, I went a little wild with student credit cards. I learned the hard way that I needed some control, so I froze the cards in a large pan of water. If I wanted or needed something badly enough to wait for the cards to thaw out, then it was probably worth purchasing. If not, I saved the dough. My mom still laughs about this, but I saved thousands in forgone impulse purchases.
I was just about to say “this is ridiculous” when I stumbled on this post by Stacy (written more than an year ago) on her blog Birds and Bills. I just cannot resist the temptation of re-posting the photograph and a paragraph from her post here.
I think we should pass a bill requiring Congress to give this a try, as a deficit-reduction measure. And then pass another bill authorizing the construction of a really, really big freezer. I’m thinking we could repurpose West Virgina for the cause.
That’s one effective debt management technique there !
Btw, on a side note, our spring break started today and it’s time for some relaxing; we may be on the road more often, and so I may be on and off through Sunday.
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When I opened up a safe deposit box a few months ago I mentioned something to the effect of using the box once or twice a year. She told me that there is a guy who stores his credit cards in a safe deposit box and retrieves it every time he needs to use them.
[comment on side note] I have been working for over 6 months now, and I must have had less than 10 days off in the entire span, and that too because of christmas… Aaargh, I miss school… Enjoy your spring break!
i liked some of the techniques.
Almost all of the applicable ones (striking out savings on gas etc) are ‘long term’ ones. A regular saving plan (whatever it is) always comes handy.
Back home, i know some ppl who wud buy an NSC of Rs 500-1000 every month.
It wud save u some tax liability and after 6 years (now 7 years i believe) you have Rs 800-1600 income every month.
Hi and thanks for referencing my tip for saving money found in Kiplingers. I would like to point out that unless you are fairly committed to “my program” you will not be able to benefit from this strategy (i.e. you must not write your card numbers anywhere that you can get them in a hurry). It was a much easier solution back in my college days when technology was not so updated (I am showing my age here). It is however a great tip and definitely taught me how to control my tendency for impulse purchases.
KC
This is just great! I really like the idea. It is all about doing what you can to set yourself up for success. FInd creative ways! I learned this past weekend that I cannot trust nyself to be responsible spending money when I go out on weekends. So I am going to start only carrying cash with me and force myself to stick with a set amount.
I talked about the freezing method in a post about ways to not use your credit cards on my blog last month. The freezing method has been around for a long time.
I think that any method that makes it a bit harder than to just whip your credit card out is enough of a deterrent for most people not to use it as much.
I can appreciate freezing the cards, but I have just cut the cards up ( drastic move) and decided to go cash only. This has helped in past situations.
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