My year 2008 is off to a good start: For the first quarter of this year alone, I managed to cancel 3 out of my 5 credit cards! For the longest time, I’ve been aiming to limit the number of cards to just two, as most financial gurus would advise anyone. And I finally did it!

Having previously worked for a top corporation, it was relatively easy for me to apply for a credit card. In fact, I didn’t have to apply for it; pre-approved cards kept on arriving at my doorstep. At first, it was so fun collecting cards from various companies. Pang-display sa wallet, as some would say. But when my debts started to balloon, I started despising my credit card collection.

I’m somewhat allergic to debts, so I’d freak out everytime my outstanding balance would reach the P5K mark. Still, I couldn’t resist the urge to swipe my cards. About 3 years ago, my family began to feel the brunt of paying hefty interest charges. We haven’t been able to save up for anything because the bulk of my hubby’s paycheck would always go these credit card companies. That’s when I became obsessed with paying off our credit card debts. First casualties were my hubby’s credit card accounts, upon his request. I worked on it for about a year and was successful at cancelling two of his accounts. After that, I took care of my own. After more than a year of doing balance transfers, I’m down to just 2 active credit cards in my purse! Woo-hoo!

Well, I’m far from being debt-free, but it is now easier to manage my 2 cards (plus one card from hubby). And since I still have to work on bringing down my outstanding balance in my existing accounts, I now think twice about swiping that darn plastic card again.