Wow. I just checked my credit card statement online and somehow this cycle it has gotten up past $900.

I…just…wow.

I guess a bike is out of the question for me right now. This is ridiculous. I’ve officially never had a bill this high that wasn’t travel-related.

Shame on me indeed.

This is bad news all around. Yes, I am getting paid tomorrow, but in order to keep my chequing account float stable, I’ve had to take some money out of my entertainment fund to bolster it with. I am not impressed with myself. This stupid bill will take almost a whole pay cheque for me to clear.

I’ve got lots of time to do it, but I just hate the feeling of owing money, I can’t believe I let it get so out of control.

So. How am I going to fix this?

First, I’ve transferred some funds from another account into my chequing account to keep from going in the red.

Next I plan to cut costs as much as I can for the next couple of weeks. This is going to be hard (birthday party to go to on Friday which involves lots of money) but I need to lighten my load right now.

I’ve already started tranferring money to my CC for each transaction I make, so it’s more like using a debit card. This was FB’s idea and you can read about it here. This should help me keep track of things better, and also help me stay on top of payments. Thankfully I will not accrue any interest charges on this amount.

I technically have the money to kill the balance in one fell swoop–but it would be cutting it very close in terms of living expenses for a couple of weeks, and I would rather not take the risk of having a too-low chequing account balance in case something happens.

I guess it just goes to show that even though you’re a personal finance blogger who is passionate about their money, you can still screw up. I’m only human, and while I usually hold myself to higher standards than this, mistakes can happen. I just need to get back on the horse.

I guess what I’m trying to say is that even if you’re not a PF blogger, you can’t give up at the first sign of trouble. I got myself into hot water, but I have a plan to get out. If I don’t stick to this plan and pay off my balance, then I will have to pay the price–literally. And that just doesn’t jive with me.

So I’m going to grit my teeth, tighten my belt and get through this. I know I screwed up, but I need to move on now that I’m dealing with it.

Silver lining?
…I should have enough points for free groceries this week 🙂