Can you go a month without a credit card?

Shelina Merani saysher credit card is "a way of life."

The 47-year-old stand-up comic and communications manager admitsshe is a bit of a shopaholic, and that's why she agreed to take part in CBC'scredit card challenge.

CBC Ottawa has challenged four people to stop using their credit cards for the entire month of October. They will be sharing their pitfalls and progress on our Facebook group.

• Do you want to give up your credit card for one month? Join CBC Ottawa: Credit Card Freeze Challenge.

In preparation for the challenge, Meranidecided to freeze her credit card in a block of ice.

"It feels really weird," says Merani. "It kind of feels like Ramadan when you are abstaining from something."

Public servant Riyadh Nazerally, 24,has also agreed to take part in the challenge.

He says he uses his credit card daily to pay for everything from coffee to mattresses.

When he was 20 and he got his first credit card, he got into trouble with debt and today he is terrified of owing interest on his credit card and pays it off in full everymonth.

For him, the hardest part of the challenge will be technology, since many of the services he uses, like Uber, are designed for credit card users.

Erma Caissie Richard, 55, says for her, losing the convenience of hercredit cardwill be tough. Her husband has recently retired and they are using the challenge as a way to re-evaluate their spending.

"October tends to be a month that I overspend as we prepare for Christmas," says Richard."Will paying cash or using debit make me think twice?"

The Big Owe

All week, CBC Ottawa will be taking a personal look at debt and how it is affecting people's lives.

Here's a preview:

MONDAY

• Credit card debt. CBC profilestwo women who ended up owing $85,000 on their credit cards and the credit counsellor who helped them break the cycle.

TUESDAY

• Student debt. According to Statistics Canada,the average student who borrows for post-secondary education ends up graduating withmore than $26,000 in debt. CBC talks to students about how this debt is delaying their future.

WEDNESDAY

• Rising mortgage rates. After seven years of record-low rates, mortgage holders are now seeing rates begin to rise.CBC takes alook at who is most affected by rising mortgage rates, in advance of the next rateannouncement by the Bank of Canada on Oct. 25.

THURSDAY

• Pay day loans. People who can't get credit from traditional lenders often rely on pay day lenders. CBC examines the cycle of debt created by high-interestpayday loans and a made-in-Ottawa program trying to offer an alternative.