Higher Credit Limit...

I opened my e-mail the other day and found a notice from American Express. We had been automatically approved for a credit limit increase for our account.

Yes, that's right, they wanted to give us more credit. $2,500 more spending power to be exact.

HUH?

I thought that credit was supposed to be harder to get now-a-days? And now they are just dolling it out, unasked for? I remember reading on many personal finance blogs of people paying down debt only to have their available balances reduced and their credit scores being negatively affected as their debt ratios were too high...

and now where are we?

I know that for many people out there there hasn't been a recovery... but I feel like we as a society have begun to embrace a "new normal"... Without getting into politics, we are a divided social economy. There are those who are feeling the recovery, and many more that are not. For those who still don't have a light at the end of the tunnel, I offer my well wishes and hope for a better tomorrow... but for SCB and I, the latter half of 2013 has been good for our family. We refinanced and our condo has increased in value, I got a promotion, SCB got a job, then he got a better job... and now a raise.

I finally feel like we are moving forward after 3 years parked somewhere on the finance highway...

So, we took the extra credit. We don't carry a balance on our Credit Cards... in fact we just pay them off in full every month and use the rewards programs for fun, but having a $9,000 limit will be better for any future loans we apply for when we go to get a bigger place in a couple years.

So here's to the glass half full.