From 366 Tips: November 29

November 29

Pay In Cash

“Number one...cash is king.”—Jack Welch

Credit cards can seem like magic money. Or worse, like they don’t involve money at all. The debit to your card can just feel like it’s numbers on a screen out there somewhere, happening to someone else. When you look at your account, you see the change, but it’s easy to put off looking at an account if you’re not in the mood to see the numbers going down.

Cash is different. You have to take it out to pay for something. Then, there’s less of it than before, and you can see it in real time. It is a visual choice. If you can get yourself on a cash budget, then you may find that your money goes further because you have to watch yourself part with it, transaction by transaction.

Obviously, you want to be wise about it. Carrying around a thousand bucks in cash is going to sting more if you lose your wallet than if you were carrying a twenty. But whenever possible, try carrying cash and see if it makes you more frugal or thoughtful.

Commitment: Commit to a month of primarily cash transactions. Give yourself a weekly cash budget and spend only the cash you have in your wallet for that week.