Maybe It is Better to Use a Credit Card vs. Cash!
Hmm. Read an interesting article today, something that really hit home for me. It was about how when people have cash, they really tend to spend it without thinking, and then wonder how they spent it when they see that it is all gone. It struck a cord for me, because this is absolutely how I am when I have cash in my pocket, which is why I try to pay with almost everything with my debt card. When I have cash, it seems to just filter away somewhere, although I could never quite tell you where it was even spent, when it’s all gone.
A good example was just last week, I had gotten $120 out in cash for my spending money for the next week, on things that I couldn’t really use my debit card for or didn’t want to use my debit card for. I ended up going through it in just a few days for some reason, and all I could remember spending it on was a few items at the grocery store and one fast food meal. Other than that, it beats me where it went!
It could have been spent on a soda, a water, some candy, a group contribution to a birthday or some other festivity at work - ANYTHING. But could I remember what that “anything” was? No, not to save my life. This is just one example, and almost every time I have cash in my pocket, I end up blowing it away on things that I don’t even need or frivolous items that I really shouldn’t be buying. For some reason, when I don’t have that cash in my pocket, I tend to be a more disciplined buyer.
Also, I write down all of my debit card transactions in my checkbook register, so it’s almost like a second safety net for me, to see where I spent this money and why I spent it. It’s almost like a failsafe frivolous spending net, because I’m confronted with the frivolity of the spending in writing, and I’m less likely to do it again. When it’s cash, I don’t have that personal safety net, and things can get pretty ugly!
