A Life Without Debt

In my last day in UAE, I was "forced" to close my main account in one of local bank in Dubai. Unfortunately, closing this bank account means I have to close all my credit cards as well! And it also means I have to pay all the balance left in all my credit cards with most of my money in hand. I have been using credit cards since ten years ago and I never bothered to pay my debt completely. It was only several hours before my flight to Singapore so I didn't have a choice. I left the country that day without any credit cards and only some amount of cash in my pocket.

How can I live without credit cards?

So far it's been good. It's almost a week now I have been surviving in the new country without any credit cards. Everything has to be paid with cash. And we live in an era where people carry less and less money in their wallet. Strangely enough, most of places now prefer credit card more than cash. Take my hotel as example. When I informed them that I would like to pay in cash, I had to pay the whole amount of the room rate plus security deposit. If I paid with card, I didn't have to pay the deposit. So I guess people trust me more if I had my credit card.

Actually I was planning to use cash only for emergency purpose but now I don't have any options. This situation makes me plan more carefully in my daily spending. At least until I receive my first month salary :)

From the other point of view, actually this time is the first time in my life since ten years ago that I don't have any debt at all to any credit card companies or the banks. Live freely without any obligation to pay some fees every month. A life without debt.