Okay, so maybe you remember what I said here about debt. The worst of which is credit card debt. A lot of us use credit cards for convenience. Maybe you pay the bill off every month – good for you!! We are not that disciplined…at. all. Maybe you use your debit card, cuz that’s really the same as cash, right – I mean it’s your money, coming out of your account. Yes, this is true, and debit cards are a great combination of convenience and responsible spending. For us however, and maybe for some of you, debit cards were still a downfall for us. The reason? We did not keep a very good record of how much we were both spending. We also set no limits on how much we were spending on what. Sometimes we were both spending away, unaware that the other was doing it, and we ran our checking account dry – not. good. So, we chose to set aside our debit cards and use cash for our everyday expenses. This is also recommended by Dave.
This is a great way to keep track of how much money you are spending on what. It is also a great way to limit your spending in a lot of areas. If you budget $200 for groceries and you are using your debit card to pay, then maybe it’s not a big deal if you spend $250 instead. But, if you only have $200 in cash, then you learn to work within those boundaries. Also, you probably know it is much easier to swipe a card than it is to hand someone cold hard cash. There’s more of an emotional connection with that cash. I think it’s definitely true – we know that once the cash is gone, it’s gone. With a credit or debit card we feel like there is an endless supply of money. 🙂 (even if that is not the case)
Just a side note – when you are swiping your card – credit or debit doesn’t matter – you’re kids think the same thing, that there’s an endless supply. Because there’s no visual cash being used. I have said to my kids before “we don’t have the money for that”, to which they have responded, “can’t you just use your credit/debit card?” Ouch.
So, how does this work. Look at your list of expenses and choose the ones that you think would be best to use cash for. Maybe the ones that might trip you up the most, and then others that are just obvious. We use cash for: groceries, gasoline, commission/allowance, blow/adult allowance, housing, clothes, and gifts. Create an envelope, or a special place for each category. Then, when you get ready to shop for something, make sure you are pulling cash only from that envelope – no stealing!! Some people keep track of what they spent by writing it down on the envelope – me, I just stuff the receipt in the envelope with the remaining cash.
Maybe this sounds crazy to you, but I promise it works. One of my favorite categories is my “blow money”, or our adult allowance. I used to feel like I had to hide every nickel and dime I spent before, knowing that we probably couldn’t afford those “luxuries”. Also, I used to gripe at my hubby all the time for all the money he wasted at 7-11 on pop and snacks. So much freedom came from simply allowing each other basically $20 a week to do with whatever we wanted!! Changed our marriage for the better!! 🙂
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