do you like luxury?

I hesitate -- and yet am compelled -- to share with you how I spent my afternoon.

This is my sickness.

I've ignored my credit cards for a couple of years now. I paid them off, then literally put them in a drawer and attempted to forget they existed. It's not exactly fair to those little pieces of plastic who meant so much to me for so long, but there it is.

I stopped activating new cards, and when they arrived just added the whole envelope to a pile to deal with at an undetermined date. I closed a couple of them a few years ago, but left the oldest ones open to keep my credit history up-to-date. That pile has nagged at me, silently, melodramatically, in the darkest hours of night and the brightest hours of day. And yet, I persisted in allowing the pile to grow because hey, it's not hurting anybody. (Except Jer, who hates clutter.)

Yesterday I opened every envelope, logged into every website, and verified and activated each card. It was such a small thing, but a symbol of procrastination I've nurtured lo these many years. I think I waited because I was afraid I'd start using them again, but that's silly. I learned my lesson. I should trust myself.

When I called to activate my card, one of the credit card companies forwarded me to an agent. He kept asking, "What can we do to get you to use your card again?" I laughed at him. He said, "We just want you to use it." I said, "I bet!" Then I laughed some more.

I was born at night but not last night, baby!

The catalyst for action was this: I want to buy a house within two years and need to make sure I have at least 3 active credit lines, with a great credit score. It's good to have little to no debt, but it means I have to work that much harder to re-establish my credit. I now enter a two-year phase I call: Operation Strategic Spending.

So the pile is now kaput and everything is filed away where thieves will never find them. (Not a challenge, by the way.) Whoo hoo!

Then since I was feeling good about conquering the procrastination beast, I updated my spreadsheet with recent index fund purchases -- dates, quantity, and price paid.

Maybe it's just me, but this was a very satisfying way to spend the afternoon. Especially because it took so long to get to this place and it took a lot of sacrifices over the years, but the benefits are tangible now.

It's not my intention to rub it in if you are struggling to make ends meet, I'm just saying there's a light at the end of the tunnel. And it's a great feeling when you finally move from being reactive to proactive about your finances.