Comments on: Five Minute Finances #18: Freeze Your Credit Cards – Literally

By: How and When to Cancel a Credit Card ∞ Get Rich Slowly

How and When to Cancel a Credit Card ∞ Get Rich Slowly — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 12:00:43 +0000

[...] loan or a mortgage), do not cancel your accounts. Doing so will ding your credit score. Instead, freeze your credit cards in a block of ice, or place them in a safe deposit [...]

By: Lanny

Lanny — Fri, 18 May 2007 21:34:15 +0000

Casey: I tend to agree, however the english dictionaries feel different:
http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=unthaw
even:
http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=dethaw

Wonderful language we have.

By: Casey

Casey — Wed, 16 May 2007 11:25:44 +0000

“To have access to the card, she would have to unthaw a rather large ice cube – it filled up a gallon plastic bucket and thus would take some significant time to unthaw, even if you used heating methods to help.”

You meant, “thaw” instead of “unthaw,” right?

Thaw: solid to liquid
“Unthaw”: liquid to solid

By: Sharon

Sharon — Wed, 04 Apr 2007 21:26:06 +0000

I wrapped my credit cards in a “paper gift wrap” so that to use them I would have to tear the paper off them in front of the clerk. A little embarrassing, but I was able to keep the cards with me without the really, really easy access…sf

By: !wanda

!wanda — Sat, 31 Mar 2007 10:38:56 +0000

As Trent pointed out some time ago, canceling cards damages your credit score because it reduces your debt/available credit ratio (drastically, if you have several cards) and can shorten your credit history. Now that it’s the internet age, if you’re at the point of freezing your cards in a block of ice, you should also clear your browser’s “private data,” particularly your “saved forms” and maybe your cache, to get rid of the account numbers in your browser’s memory. (I think that’s what you mean by “had the account numbers stored in their computer,” David- tell me if I’m wrong- because it’s pretty dumb to write those down in a file on your computer.)

By: TJP

TJP — Sat, 31 Mar 2007 05:07:58 +0000

I like David’s suggestion a lot. I would eliminate all but 1 card, and charge all my purchases on a single bill. That way, you only have to pay one creditor each month, which keeps you better organized and more focused on investing your remaining income.

But hey, if freezing the damn things works, go for it!

By: DJ

DJ — Sat, 31 Mar 2007 02:10:52 +0000

@eRock
I had done this a few years back, and not long after I experienced some mechanical problems with my car. It took me all of maybe 60 seconds with some boiling hot water to free my credit card before heading off to the mechanic.

After that I didn’t bother freezing them again – I gave them to my parents who live about 10 minutes drive away, and they stuck them in a drawer. It has worked much better for me now because I feel like I need to explain to them why I’m borrowing it (not that they care, as it’s my money), but it helps me to at least feel accountable to someone.

By: eR0CK

eR0CK — Sat, 31 Mar 2007 02:01:52 +0000

I had a head gasket blow on my truck last year. Had I froze my credit cards, I would have been in a World of hurt.

I think keeping one and cutting the rest is the most effective. It’s important to learn restraint anyway.

By: !wanda

!wanda — Fri, 30 Mar 2007 18:44:36 +0000

There’s willpower and then there’s habit. If someone gets into the habit of not using their cards to buy things, because those cards are inaccessible, it may be much easier for them to have the willpower to not use those cards later, when they’re back in the wallet.

By: Nathan

Nathan — Fri, 30 Mar 2007 18:21:21 +0000

I would imagine that while it worked, it did a poor job of actually teaching any lesson. If freezing your credit cards is a tactic that really works, how about building and reinforcing the willpower to simply stop using them until necessary?

I am always hesitant to say these types of “psychological tricks” are worthwhile because while they might work for some people in some circumstances, it doesn’t really fix the problem to begin with, and that was the ability to have a credit card without the fear of running it up unnecessarily.

By: David

David — Fri, 30 Mar 2007 18:14:29 +0000

Of course, if you write the number down first you can still buy online. That’s why I would recommend anyone in DEEP financial trouble to cancel and cut up all but 1 card for emergencies only..I know someone that froze their cards, but they had the account numbers stored in their computer so they could still buy stuff on the internet…:-(