The best financial decision you made last year

[Gootsy]

In the past before I got my CC, I'd have to use family/friends CCs in order to pay for those sorts of things. I'd just pay them cash while doing the order with them. A little bit of a pain, but not so bad since it's not like I use hotels every week.

CCs aren't bad if you can control the spending and not dig yourself too deep. After years refusing to get a CC, I finally decided to get one over the summer and am very happy with it.

[EDIT: Infact, I'd say getting a CC was one of the better financial decisions I made in 2007 ]

[klaxiam]

Keep renting instead of buying a house. I managed to save up almost $10,000 in my emergency fund, and am still paying only $500 a month splitting rent instead of overextending myself and having a $1300/month mortgage/insurance/fees/repairs bill. The market is ripe, people, but don't jump in unless you can really do it!

[Savio]

The best financial decision you made last year?

I finally cleared my debt.
It was like gum stuck in my hair which I was unable to get rid off. But I finally did.

Im also building up an emergency fund. On meating the requirements of emergency fund. I'll decide on what way to invest my money.

[windycindy]

Hello! We closed every credit card account except some gasoline cards and one major credit card which only my husband has access too! If I need to buy a gift or purchase something, I will ask him whether I should use cash, check or the credit card. If my sister and I go shopping, she is in charge of my credit card. Sad, but true.

[Michelle Dawn]

Originally Posted by ksquar

I set up excel spreadhseets for budgeting

Ditto.

Carefully tracking my spending and using excel to budget was my best decision last year. I want to try Microsoft Money or Pear Budget this year. Anyone have a preference?

[RedZinnia]

1) We set up an online account with Emigrant Direct and auto-transferred money every week.
2) We tracked every dollar we spent in Quicken.

[Becky08]

I too, gave up all my credit cards and then went to my credit union and aquired a VISA Debit card, believing I would be able to use the VISA debit in place of my credit card to reserve things, such as rental cars, airline tickets, hotel rooms etc.. and to my disappointment the companies refused to except it. How maddening, it is like all the business's are in cahoots to keep us all in debt. Reluctantly, I did get ONE credit card, just to use in such cases. I also send out the payment immediatly, so I will not owe any finance charges, or I use it to reserve and pay cash when I arrive. It DOES NOT stay in my purse, it stays at home, in my safe and I only take it out for such an occassion as mentioned above. I wanted to mention to others, that a site I visit frequently is Dave Ramsey, he has fantastic advice in the DEBT FREE forum. Check it out.

[starlagoat]

A small but meaningful financial decision I made last year was to say no to a credit card company. I'm not talking about saying no to an offer of credit or anything like that. I mean saying no to them trying to scam you into making a payment over the phone with an extra charge. I took a deep breath, and asked if there was another way I could send in the payment. Being willing to even ask this question put the whole situation up for discussion and the agent "cut me a deal" and let me make the payment by phone no extra charge. Since I was willing to stand my ground and go for the cheaper option of sending in the payment by mail, the agent began to sing a different tune. Even though it is still nerve wracking to deal with creditors, at least I know now that they don't hold all the powers of negotiating.

[Pinoy Smart Blogger]

The best financial decision last year is when I decided to 'subscribe' to a monthly deposit scheme where the bank automatically withdraws money from my savings account and puts into a bond fund.

[Megan]

I started a Roth IRA and opened a high yield savings account. Now I keep most of my money in that online account. I like seeing the interest grow!