Kites & A Camera- A Spending Confession

Well, I wrote that last entry about not using a credit card for 6 months on June 30th. Unfortunately, that's how long our record of no credit card use went. Over the past two weeks, we've used the credit card for non-emergency purchases. I feel like I failed somewhere, and in a moment of weakness and numerous justifications- we made a charge on the card.

Confession #1- For the past 2 years, I've been borrowing a digital camera from work and using it to take photos on holidays & vacations. I found out that the digital camera is needed for work use during my vacation week, so I would not be able to borrow it this year. I really have used it A LOT, and after a long conversation with my husband and lots of research- we decided to purchase a digital SLR camera. At least we found the best price and the best camera for our purposes, and we probably won't buy another one for 5 to 10 years. The camera cost about $900, and was charged on our credit card. This was the largest purchase I'd made since I bought my car 5 years ago. The next few days, both my husband and I felt guilty, I felt depression too- for coming so far- 6 months without using the card, and then giving in. The camera has arrived- it is wonderful, and we're already using it daily- at least it will get a lot of use. After paying back over $5k in debt, we know we can pay this back quickly. If we'd had more time, we could have saved up for this purchase- but with our vacation approaching, we wanted it sooner.

Confession #2- we used the credit card again a few days later. This was frivilous, and unexpected. My husband does stunt kiting, and he pre-ordered 2 custom made kites. We did not know when they'd be ready, I think we assumed in the fall or winter. We were going to start saving up for these purchases in August, after the expenses of daycare, our vacation, and our daughter's birthday had passed. To our surprise, the kite designer had them ready much earlier than expected- the beginning of July. So, we ended up charging another $500 on the credit card to pay for those. My husband has spent about $2k on stunt kites & parts since he began the hobby in March. After last week's purchase, he has agreed to not buy another kite until our credit card debt is at zero. (it is at $18k right now). The kites arrived yesterday, he loves them, and will certainly fly them a lot- he flies 1 or 2 hours a day now. He tried listing a kite he no longer uses on eBay, but it didn't sell. I think that having a "kite at the end of the tunnel" when we get out of debt is a great motivator for him.

I think we both feel as though we failed in the no credit card use arena, and we definitely didn't need to buy the camera or kites...that's $1400 added to our debt. But, we're already back on track, and back on budget. I had to confess here to explain why my debt has gone up...and holding myself accountable is one of the reasons I started this blog.