Ever thought about “freezing” your credit cards to curb spending habits? Yes, literally freezing them – as in covered with ice. It’s crazy to imagine what lengths people will go to control themselves from spending money.
Maybe sounds a little outrageous for some people. Seriously, who would think of doing such a thing?
But apparently, this is a thing.
Let me break the ice on this unusual method to control debt. It is very simple to do. (Cue the corny ice-related jokes)
Got cold feet? You could have your credit card frozen in 3 easy steps.
- Place the card in a freezer-safe container
- Fill the container with water, covering the card
- Freeze it
That’s it! You’re now safe from any somewhat minor – but adds up to be a major problem – spending in the near future. Pretty simple right?
You’ve “ice-olated” the problem from the cause. But dig a little deeper before throwing – or should I say freezing – your credit cards and see if it’s right for you.
“Let it go. Let it go. Turn away and slam the door.”
Elsa (from Frozen)
Who could use this method? Probably the ideal person is someone who has an insanely tough time with swiping their card. The type of person who finds extreme joy in whipping their card out and paying for items with money they don’t have yet or have no clear plan of paying back anytime soon.
That was me once. Back in the day, I was “swipe-happy”. Tried to impress my then-girlfriend-now-wife, my buddies, and my family. It gave me status, at least in my head.
Until I was slapped with a statement showing an absurd amount of money I owed creditors did I realize that I needed to fix the habit. Freezing my card never crossed my mind back then. It could have been the key for me to get back on track sooner but we’ll never know.
Thankfully I iced that habit a long time ago. Spending money today is given way more thought than back then.
But if you feel that freezing your cards is the way to go, do yourself favor and make sure other financial elements are in place first.
- Save For An Emergency
- Have A Plan To Pay Off Consumer Debt
- Don’t Forget What Got You Here In The First Place
- Promise To Quit Borrowing Money
- Seek For Ways To Save Money
Save For An Emergency
Last thing you’d want when an emergency hits you is waiting six hours for your card to thaw from a block of ice. Emergencies are urgent matters and time is of the essence.
A hefty 3-6 months worth of expenses saved up in an account should be more than enough. If that’s too high for you at the moment, strive for at least $1,000. That should help you get through most of the immediate matters you’ll face.
At the most basic, most simplest step, just start with a couple of dollars and work it up to what feels comfortable. I know how tough it was for me to save up my first thousand but just kept working at it until I did.
Now, I have that on repeat mode. Every paycheck a portion of will be sent to build up my EF without fail.
Have A Plan To Pay Off Consumer Debt
Simply placing your credit cards in the freezer won’t make the debt incurred on them just disappear. I wish it were that simple.
Devise a plan or create a budget that’ll allow you to increase your cash flow. In other words, the surplus of money leftover after paying your normal monthly expenses.
Use that cold hard cash to funnel towards your credit card debt. Work to wipe that debt out completely. It’s a liberating experience when you can earn income and not have to use it to pay off lingering debt.
Don’t Forget What Got You Here In The First Place
Fast forward to the moment you’re all paid up. No more consumer debt hanging over your head. What do you do next?
Easy. Take out the block of ice holding your credit card, thaw it out, and start spending again right?
Nope. Remember, it took an insane amount of dedication from you to get to this moment. The moment when you can have a choice where your money goes – rather than being forced to give it to creditors.
Don’t slip up and head back down the path you came from. Build the habit of paying off your card every month so it doesn’t accrue interest. Perhaps using an extra bank account could help you here.
With all your debt paid off, you can use that extra money for buying an experience or pursuing a hobby.
Promise To Quit Borrowing Money
Or stop borrowing money you don’t intend to pay back soon. Many people get stuck on this concept especially those having a tough time paying back the debt they currently have.
They borrow credit to buy things they don’t really need with no intention to pay off the card in full each month. Multiply this by months and months and months of accumulating bad debt – mixed with ignorance – and they’ll find themselves stuck in the rat race.
Credit card debt is considered bad debt to many wealthy investors which makes sense. That type of debt isn’t used for creating wealth. It doesn’t buy you an income-producing asset. In fact, it takes more money out of your pocket then in.
Stick to cash if swiping a credit card is such a huge problem. It might be tougher on you to carry dollar bills but it’s better than continuously adding to your current debt.
Plus it’s way harder to spend money in the form of tangible dollar bills than it is using a credit card. I know this to be very true. Once in a while, I’ll revert back to cash when it feels like spending is increasing slowly.
Seek For Ways To Save Money
Once someone is out of the rut – being in consumer debt – the urge to jump back into bad spending habits rears its ugly head. That is, unless that person was proactively looking for ways to cut back on spending while they consistently paid down their debt.
You see, many consumers just spend their money while piling on more and more debt then find it hard to get themselves out. Then something happens to them where they see the importance of not having so much debt. So they strive to pay it off the best way they can.
They build the habit of saving and once the handcuffs of debt have been broken, let that newly found lifestyle be the normal way of living from there on out. Don’t let the former lifestyle creep back in. Stay far away from the apps, social media accounts, advertisements, anything that reminds you of impulse spending.
Instead, embrace yourself with FI-related blogs, websites, and Facebook groups. Being more involved with this blog while perusing personal financial media has really helped me stay on the path even more.
What about my frozen credit card? If you chose to freeze your credit card, let me know how that went for you. I’m curious if any emotions stirred up within you when sudden urges to spend occurred. Did this help control the spending habits or make it worse?
Personally, I wouldn’t try it today since I’m much more in control of my finances. Thinking back to my early twenties might have been a different story. But it would have been tough back then too.
I wasn’t making nearly as much as I am today plus I was doing my best to keep up with the Joneses. Not the most ideal scenario for anyone seeking financial independence. Thankfully that’s all behind me now.
If credit cards became a huge problem for me, I’d simply lock it up in my lock box and forget about them until they’re all paid. I wouldn’t want to deal with magnetic chips and water. Heard the card will still operate but I’d rather avoid it altogether.
Conclusion
When most people hear the term “freeze” a credit card, it normally doesn’t involve a container with water and a freezer. But some may find it helpful to use this method. Others just need a different way of looking at it. With a decent financial plan, maybe freezing credit cards wouldn’t be a bad way to control debt. Either way, that is just another unusual method to control spending.
Have you frozen your credit card in water? Did that help control your spending? Would you recommend that method to other people?