Almost a year ago I received a credit card that offered no interest on the first 12 months of purchases. Lovely, I thought. What I planned to do was to use it for things I was going buy any way and put the cash I would be spending into my savings account and pay it off at the end of the year.

For the most part that plan worked out fine. I currently have a credit card balance that I have not paid any interest on. It is going to be due soon when the 12 months are up, but I have plenty of cash on hand to pay it off. However, somewhere along the way I noticed that I was probably spending more money than I would if I actually had to spend the cash. It’s so easy to spend when it’s plastic money, isn’t it?

It wasn’t anything outrageous–just a few things here and there–but as a reformed spendaholic I’m constantly monitoring my spending habits to make sure I don’t “relapse.” Perhaps more importantly, any benefit that I had hoped to get from my deferred payment on these items is pretty much out the window if I’m spending more than I should!

A few months back I took that credit card and put it in a sealed envelope and put it in my closet. I figured, if I really needed it, it was there. Today, it occurred to me that I haven’t touched it since. Wonderful!

I’m actually pleased that I was able to recognize and actually be honest with myself that I was probably spending more than I should with the credit card, even if I wasn’t being reckless with it.

So, here’s a few tips if you feel a spendaholic relapse coming on:

• Hide that sucker! If you need to keep the card open, but you’ve got an itchy credit finger, put the card somewhere you can’t access easily. Even if this is only temporary, it can help quite a bit.
• Give yourself a timeout. Before making a purchase, decide on a set time frame that you’re going to wait to see if you’re not just acting on an impulse. Often we’ll buy things and then wonder, “Why did I buy that?” If you still want something about that “timeout” period and you still think it’s a good idea, go ahead and buy it. (Tip: thirty seconds is not an acceptable length of “timeout” for that new plasma TV you just read about.)
• If all else fails, get rid of the card. You often hear that closing your credit accounts can actually hurt your credit score. It’s actually true, but so can running up a balance you can’t afford to pay! You’re better off taking a small hit on your credit report (assuming you even do, it’s not guaranteed) for closing the card than running up a massive balance.