It’s official: I’ve been spending way too much money on things that I don’t need. And honestly, they don’t feel like things I don’t need. They’re the occasional trip to Panera or a new dress to replace one that doesn’t fit anymore. But too many of these treats keep coming up every week, and suddenly, I’ve spent hundreds of dollars each month, and I have no idea how so much spending accrued so quickly.
It was time for a change.
For the past 30 days, I have used paper currency to make purchases I would otherwise make using its plastic surrogate. I could not quit cold turkey, however; I had four exceptions to this challenge:
1. Gas. I get discounts when I use my credit card to get gas, and the discount makes a big difference in my yearly spending already, which would defeat the purpose of this challenge.
2. DD Perks. The whole point of having the app is so that I get discounts and eventually free coffee.*
3. Textbooks. It’s unrealistic to expect that I will find good deals anywhere else but online, which of course requires The Plastic™.
4. Phone payments. They’re already set up online, so that’s moot.
*This is not an advertisement. This is an app that I downloaded for personal use and am only including here for accuracy of mentioned purchases. That said, Dunkin, if you would like to sponsor me, I would not say no.
Source: http://www.hercampus.com/sites/default/files/2016/04/25/dunkindonuts-val…
The first change I noticed when I started paying in cash was that online shopping came to an immediate end. I didn’t bother checking Forever 21 for new sales or free shipping because I can’t pay cash through a computer. For the entirety of August, I went online shopping once, and it was for my textbooks.
The second change I made was how much money I allotted myself to spend. I usually keep around $100 in my checking account, for emergencies, but also so that I don’t have to reload my card every time I go shopping. But when I took cash out from the bank, I didn’t pull out $100. I pulled out between $20 and $40, and I only took out cash three times over the summer. With less money to spend, I was guaranteed to save more than when I used my card.
The final change I noticed was how much I saved my coins. When I did go shopping, I was more likely to hand the cashier a large bill rather than smaller bills and coins. This meant that I had a ton of coins left in my purse at the end of the summer, which translated to nearly $20. So of the ~$100 I took out of the bank, I saved more than $20 simply by not spending my coins.
The takeaway is not that credit cards are bad. I definitely utilized mine to fill up on gas for the long drive to Gettysburg; I still grabbed a few coffees while I was still close to a Dunkin, and textbooks were not cheap. But spending in cash helped me to curb impulse buys and realize how much money I have in my disposal. By making my casual purchases cash-only, I hope to spend less on things that I do not truly need.