Comments on: Cash Only, Week 1: I Actually Spent More!

By: Dianehall

Dianehall — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 09:40:22 +0000

Wow.. I feel the same like you.. when I buy things using my credit card I see the transaction post to the account and I am more aware of it. Thank you for bringing a well thought out and reasoned comment to the discussion.
I’m always up for a thoughtful discussion of semantics.

the cash code

By: elliet

elliet — Sun, 25 Apr 2010 10:18:24 +0000

Yeah give the girl a break…She’s trying and coming to terms with her -self-

Remember, practice practice practice!!!

By: mike

mike — Sat, 10 Apr 2010 20:47:06 +0000

If the sensation of having “the wad” and know it’s available is the problem then why not try this experiment with a debit card tied to an account with limited funds instead?

That way you don’t have the cash on hand, still get all the tracking benefits and can “refill” the account when the budget dictates. All the while forcing yourself to live within a hard budget.

I haven’t purchased “on credit” for years (can’t even remember exactly how many) but use a debit card almost daily. I also keep a small but reasonable amount of cash on hand for those purchases where a card would be awkward.

By: Chad G

Chad G — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 19:10:52 +0000

I would love to hear your theories on all of his holes. I can assure you it is working just fine for me, my family and hundreds of others that I know personally.

By: Carl

Carl — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 00:30:46 +0000

I also have a tendency to spend money more freely when I have cash than when I have credit. I do a bad job of tracking my spending when it is in cash. I focus more on the balance of my checking account. So by the time cash is in my pocket, it almost feels like it’s already gone. On the other hand, when I buy things using my credit card I see the transaction post to the account and I am more aware of it. When I buy an extra beer with my credit card, my guilt will last all month until my credit card website shifts to the next statement. When I buy an extra beer with cash, my guilt last only as long as I hold onto the receipt. I don’t like feeling guilty, so I end up throwing away the receipt pretty quickly, often before I record the transaction somewhere (sorry – I’m just being honest). I know what you’re all going to say – you should budget! Have some self-control! Only take out as much cash as you need! And maybe if I changed over to a fully cash system, my spending habits would change. But with my mind constantly focused on my credit card balance, cash falls through the cracks. I have found the best way for me to have self-control is to put everything on my credit card and check my balance every other day like a paranoid freak. If my system requires an additional step of recording each transaction, the system will fail.

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By: mr man

mr man — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 20:19:03 +0000

| way to [sic] many holes in his thinking

such as … ?

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By: verbal

verbal — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 19:30:19 +0000

The personal attacks are a little much, guys. She’s trying a new budgeting mechanism and it’s not working out perfectly, and I don’t see anything wrong with that. If you’re too afraid to make mistakes you won’t try anything new, and you won’t experiment enough to find the budgeting tools that work for you. I think that people new to personal finance can learn a lot from seeing the trial-and-error process, and that’s why this is a useful series of posts.

I think it’s pretty clear that different people have different money troubles. If your problem is spending more than you realize on big impulse purchases, it seems like you’ll be better served by paying cash. Other people, with other money behavior and money psychology, will do better with other tools.

And even very smart people can make money mistakes. Don’t claim you’ve never done it. Yes, it’s much easier to identify someone else’s money mistakes than it is to identify yours. But still: there’s no need to insult people about it. The point is finding a successful budget mechanism – if it doesn’t work for you, it doesn’t mean you’re an idiot. It means that budget system doesn’t work for you.

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By: Jeffrey Jonson

Jeffrey Jonson — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 19:00:08 +0000

Um, not to criticize, but if you usually only spend $300/wk, then maybe that is ALL the money you should carry – better yet, $30 less. Just spending cash doesn’t change our spending habits unless it shows us how irresponsible we are with it. We plan our vacations, we plan work projects, we plan meals, maybe we should also have a plan for our money. At this point, that ugly word comes up – Budget!

Maybe you are also not paying as much attention because you have a time limit in mind. I am only doing it for this long, so no need to pay attention. Committing to it for an extended period of time might help you be more conscious of the money running through your fingers. Good luck with your experiment!

By: Blake

Blake — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 17:47:41 +0000

Jennifer raises a good point. The comments about discipline could just as easily be applied to credit card use. I use my credit cards like a debit card; I don’t spend more than I have, never carry a balance, and I collect rewards on it. If someone steals your debit card, your bank account gets emptied and you spend a month or two trying to get it refunded. If your card gets stolen, you still have the money in your bank account to rely on while your cards get reissued. In an absolute emergency, I can charge something and carry a balance, which isn’t an option with cash. Its just extra protection.

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By: Melanie

Melanie — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 17:25:26 +0000

I definitely spend more when I have cash (like the blogger) than when I just use credit/debit cards…which is why I barely carry cash.

For those asking if shes on a vacation, it seems as though the ski lodge would indicate that…but nothing else really does. People usually buy a fancy coffee drink (hello…starbucks?) at least once a week along with beer or whatever at least once a week (which could be where the cover charge comes in also)…why she was paying for her friends’ cover charges though I’m not sure.