<prompt> Human: Thanks for all the advise PF. My credit score has never been higher, and Ive never had more money in the bank Even if its only 1700. Just wanted to say thanks to the sub for all the help and advise given out every day.edit:since this is at the top this morning.Im 26. I started my adult life with a 3k credit card. That turned into a 4k debt and I ignored it until it went away. Mature, right? Well I started turning my life around when I was about 21... and then a friend stabbed me in the back and we had to abandon an apartment for a whopping 1.4k debt. Thats still hanging around as a collection.Recently, Ive paid off all of my small debts that wont fall off my report in the next 3 years. So all thats left is the apartment debt at 1,444. I took out an auto loan for 10k at 21 interest. I can afford a 350mo payment, so we got a 250mo payment and pay 100 extra per month. This cuts down the interest dramatically like, knocks 4k off it. And finally I got the secured credit card with a 100 deposit for a 200 limit.Right. So those things make me look better, but dont make me better with money. So what else have I done? I automated some bills. I have about 200 of regular bills paid onto my credit card. Im paid weekly, so every week 50 comes out of my check and goes to those bills. Some of my other bills are shared accounts. So I also set up an automatic money transfer to the person who normally pays that bill, again, once a week for 14th of the monthly bill. That keeps me above water, because now I dont need to do anything or make any decisions in order to pay my bills. Then I got a walmart gift card and load it manually every month for 105 of my normal fuel usage. I dont shop at wally world, so I would almost never be tempted to spend this on anything but the gas pump. I tamper my habit of going on trips by looking at the card balance. I dont consider any other money except the card balance when deciding if I should drive to this place or not. So instead of driving to the Big Awesome State Park an hour away, I can settle for some trials at the County park right outside town. A bonus effect from this is that it really helps me decide if going to this place is what I really want to do. I enjoy my outings a lot more since theyre, This is what I want to do this month instead of meh sure lets go.My biggest expense is still food. That one is so hard to control. So hard. Ive started working on it by doing a few things. One, I only spend on debit. I havent carried cash in months. Two, my home page is my Mint account with the pie chart showing categories. So every time I sit my ass down, I see where Im spending money. That constant reminder helps me remember to stay away from fast food, and eat more frugally.Really, food spending is the biggest problem. It takes effort to plan thoughtful, cheap, healthy, tasty meals. And then buy that stuff and not the other stuff. And then the effort and time of cooking and cleaning. Its a lot of work, its mentally demanding. Theres a lot of little tricks Ive tried, and together they help. But sometimes Ill still find myself throwing frozen pizzas or expensive box dinners into the shopping cart. Once I have this one beaten, Ill be sure to share.TL;DR: opened accounts that Im able to pay off. Automated paying off all my crap. Dont eat like a fat bachelor. Assistant: Congrats! Im getting there, I just need to get my CC balances lower. I paid off one credit card Human: Congratulations! Keep it up!Assistant: Thank you kindly Human: My credit limit is only 200. So its hard keeping my balance low, percentage wise.  <response>: Tell me about it. I have one with a limit of 250 and the new-ish its probably a year or close to a year old one with a limit of 800. Those unexpected expenses are killer on top of that, I had a food habit. Now I just leave the cards in the house 