# I decided to use cash now for all purchases to save more money **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 18, 2016, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-decided-to-use-cash-now-for-all-purchases-to-save-more-money/766229 "2016-09-18T01:50:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![cg16](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a698b9/32.png) [@cg16](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cg16)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2016, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-decided-to-use-cash-now-for-all-purchases-to-save-more-money/766229/41 "2016-09-18T22:40:13Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > Well, $100 will last a morning in NYC, if you are frugal… which is why I will have the debit card for backup ---
**Author:** ![Kimera757](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kimera757/32/3765_2.png) [@Kimera757](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimera757)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2016, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-decided-to-use-cash-now-for-all-purchases-to-save-more-money/766229/42 "2016-09-18T22:40:48Z")
> [@Mallard](#): > > So, in a cashless society, how do kidnappers get their ransom, drug dealers get their payoffs and politicians like Brian Mulroney get their graft payments? Gift cards??:rolleyes: You use iTunes cards. There’s a scam where people are pressured into buying cards and giving the numbers to the scammers. ---
**Author:** ![cg16](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a698b9/32.png) [@cg16](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cg16)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2016, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-decided-to-use-cash-now-for-all-purchases-to-save-more-money/766229/43 "2016-09-18T22:42:23Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > Well, the point is that cash can be irretrievably lost, and that hurts your personal finances more than small savings benefit it. And if you’re spending exclusively cash, it means you have a varying stash of cash somewhere that’s subject to loss and theft. > > And if you’re just hitting an ATM every so often to replenish the $40 or whatever in your wallet, it’s not nearly the brake on your spending the concept should be. The only real gain is that you can’t dig a hole in money you don’t have… but nothing much about your system keeps you from spending yourself broke, possibly before you realize it. > > I think it’s far more important to apply all the self-improvement to considering what you spend your money on, and why, rather than to try and choke the financial flow. Learning to eat better is a far more effective strategy than attempting to starve yourself, if you get me. where did you get I was starving myself? lol ---
**Author:** ![Vicsage](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/e68b1a/32.png) [@Vicsage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vicsage)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2016, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-decided-to-use-cash-now-for-all-purchases-to-save-more-money/766229/44 "2016-09-18T23:01:53Z")
Its easy to say you’re only going to use cash. Until you get a kidney stone and have to go to the hospital, and unless you’ve got super insurance, expect to be out hundreds if not thousands of dollars. And that’s if you don’t need them to remove it. Then your transmission goes on your car. Your dog gets sick. Next month, the home owner association tells you to paint your house in 30 days or get fined. By now you’re so far behind the 8-ball you"ll never pay off your credit card, because more shit keeps coming. The idea of paying cash to stay out of debt sounds good on paper, but for many, it doesn’t make any difference. Got to go, I think my washing machine just broke. ---
**Author:** ![cg16](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a698b9/32.png) [@cg16](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cg16)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2016, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-decided-to-use-cash-now-for-all-purchases-to-save-more-money/766229/45 "2016-09-18T23:09:34Z")
> [@Vicsage](#): > > Its easy to say you’re only going to use cash. Until you get a kidney stone and have to go to the hospital, and unless you’ve got super insurance, expect to be out hundreds if not thousands of dollars. And that’s if you don’t need them to remove it. Then your transmission goes on your car. Your dog gets sick. Next month, the home owner association tells you to paint your house in 30 days or get fined. By now you’re so far behind the 8-ball you"ll never pay off your credit card, because more shit keeps coming. The idea of paying cash to stay out of debt sounds good on paper, but for many, it doesn’t make any difference. Got to go, I think my washing machine just broke. well that’s why I had to stop dating because I want to be able to pay for unexpected situations like you just mentioned. So when something does happen I can laugh and pay for it. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Anconia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@D\_Anconia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Anconia)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2016, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-decided-to-use-cash-now-for-all-purchases-to-save-more-money/766229/46 "2016-09-18T23:12:06Z")
> [@cg16](#): > > If I only take a certain amount of money to buy food from the market, I will spend less money than using my cc/debit card because I am spending what I have in my wallet > > When I use the CC/debit card, I am using a bigger funding source so I will likely spend more money. Like when I was in the market on friday, my bill was $17.57 and I gave her $18.00 in cash. if I was using the CC I would have spend more money because In my mind I am using a bigger funding source vs a few bucks in my wallet > > make sense? No, it doesn’t. If your budget is $20/week for groceries, then you spend up to that amount. The form of payment–cash, debit, or credit–doesn’t matter. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2016, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-decided-to-use-cash-now-for-all-purchases-to-save-more-money/766229/47 "2016-09-18T23:18:03Z")
> [@Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](#): > > How do you track your spending for your taxes? Why do I need to track my spending for my taxes? To me, cash or credit it’s all the same. I do get 1.25% back on my credit, so I use it a lot (it comes to about $500 a year, so I must be putting $40,000 on the card), but I also use cash a lot: charges under $20, pay the cleaning lady, pay my chiropracter, pay my footcare guy, pay my doctor who charges for sending blood tests to a lab. None of them take credit cards. The chiro doesn’t even have a computer in his office, although there is a manual typewriter for receipts. ---
**Author:** ![cg16](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a698b9/32.png) [@cg16](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cg16)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2016, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-decided-to-use-cash-now-for-all-purchases-to-save-more-money/766229/48 "2016-09-18T23:24:03Z")
> [@D\_Anconia](#): > > No, it doesn’t. If your budget is $20/week for groceries, then you spend up to that amount. The form of payment–cash, debit, or credit–doesn’t matter. It does matter because some of the places I go to for purchases require a $5 to $10 minimum to use my card. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Anconia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@D\_Anconia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Anconia)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2016, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-decided-to-use-cash-now-for-all-purchases-to-save-more-money/766229/49 "2016-09-18T23:48:33Z")
> [@cg16](#): > > It does matter because some of the places I go to for purchases require a $5 to $10 minimum to use my card. No, it really doesn’t matter. If your total budget is $20, or $50, or $100, only spend that amount. If store A requires a $5 minimum to use your card, and your purchase is only $3, pay cash there, and spend the other $18 elsewhere. ---
**Author:** ![cg16](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a698b9/32.png) [@cg16](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cg16)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2016, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-decided-to-use-cash-now-for-all-purchases-to-save-more-money/766229/50 "2016-09-18T23:52:08Z")
> [@D\_Anconia](#): > > No, it really doesn’t matter. If your total budget is $20, or $50, or $100, only spend that amount. > > If store A requires a $5 minimum to use your card, and your purchase is only $3, pay cash there, and spend the other $18 elsewhere. That is what I’m doing now which was the whole point of this thread. lol ---
**Author:** ![D\_Anconia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@D\_Anconia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Anconia)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2016, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-decided-to-use-cash-now-for-all-purchases-to-save-more-money/766229/51 "2016-09-19T00:06:24Z")
> [@cg16](#): > > That is what I’m doing now which was the whole point of this thread. lol But you keeping talking about a “bigger pot of money” when you use a card vs. cash. There is no “bigger pot.” ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2016, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-decided-to-use-cash-now-for-all-purchases-to-save-more-money/766229/52 "2016-09-19T00:08:12Z")
It’s a mental trick. Of course there is not literally more money, but sometimes it can seem that way when you think about a large credit line. It’s not such a silly idea that cash in your pocket feels more finite. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2016, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-decided-to-use-cash-now-for-all-purchases-to-save-more-money/766229/53 "2016-09-19T00:16:01Z")
> [@cg16](#): > > The cash back rewards I received from using my credit card will be the same amount of money i will save from using cash. For example, I had to earn 5000 points using my cc to receive a $25 gift card? U will be saving a lot more than that now I don’t get “gift points” and there is no minimum. One percent paid back, period. I spend less than $100 a month as PoS, mostly groceries. How do I get my supermarket to give me 1% back for using cash? I also get 1% cash back on my electric and internet bill. Instead of paying 50-cents postage to mail them a check every month. I NEVER buy ANYthing, just to get the points. I buy what I would have bought anyway, and my CC pays 12% of my state sales tax. ---
**Author:** ![cg16](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a698b9/32.png) [@cg16](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cg16)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2016, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-decided-to-use-cash-now-for-all-purchases-to-save-more-money/766229/54 "2016-09-19T00:18:02Z")
> [@D\_Anconia](#): > > But you keeping talking about a “bigger pot of money” when you use a card vs. cash. > > There is no “bigger pot.” Bigger Pot…The debit card Smaller Pot…Money in my wallet ---
**Author:** ![Ruken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2016, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-decided-to-use-cash-now-for-all-purchases-to-save-more-money/766229/55 "2016-09-19T00:18:45Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > That can’t be due to fear of robberies, but it gives them an excuse to raise the price of the items. I suspect not needing to handle cash saves them money. Yes, CCs have fees, but moving and tracking money isn’t free. I’m not sure why they need an excuse to raise prices. They can charge what they think will maximize profit without any justification. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Anconia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@D\_Anconia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Anconia)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2016, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-decided-to-use-cash-now-for-all-purchases-to-save-more-money/766229/56 "2016-09-19T00:38:02Z")
> [@cg16](#): > > Bigger Pot…The debit card > > Smaller Pot…Money in my wallet If your total amount of cash and cash equivalents are $500, it hardly matters if $100 is in cash and $400 is in your checking account, or vice versa, or any numerical combination thereof. You still have $500, total. ---
**Author:** ![cg16](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a698b9/32.png) [@cg16](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cg16)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2016, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-decided-to-use-cash-now-for-all-purchases-to-save-more-money/766229/57 "2016-09-19T00:42:28Z")
> [@D\_Anconia](#): > > If your total amount of cash and cash equivalents are $500, it hardly matters if $100 is in cash and $400 is in your checking account, or vice versa, or any numerical combination thereof. You still have $500, total. Ok well I am being creative and budgeting the $100 while the $400 just sits there and later transferred to savings on 9/30 ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2016, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-decided-to-use-cash-now-for-all-purchases-to-save-more-money/766229/58 "2016-09-19T00:50:43Z")
> [@D\_Anconia](#): > > If your total amount of cash and cash equivalents are $500, it hardly matters if $100 is in cash and $400 is in your checking account, or vice versa, or any numerical combination thereof. You still have $500, total. Come on, it’s obviously a psychological thing. If he only has $100 in his pocket and he doesn’t have his card with him then it is only possible for him to spend $100. If he has his card then he can spend a lot more. It works for him so why knock it? I’m the other way, as soon as cash is withdrawn from my account I tend to think of it as already spent, so I’m much more likely to throw it away on frivolous expenses. On the other hand I see my credit card as future debt and I don’t like having too much future debt so I am more conscientious when spending on my credit card. Edit: 99% of the time I have $0 in cash and use my credit card for absolutely everything. It then gets paid in full each month. The only time I have cash is when I’m expecting to go somewhere that won’t take credit. Most commonly car parking, though the street meters are taking cards these days too. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2016, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-decided-to-use-cash-now-for-all-purchases-to-save-more-money/766229/59 "2016-09-19T13:41:26Z")
Apparently, then, this thread is about the self-discipline to control your own spending, rather than the benefits of using cash vs a credit card. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2016, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-decided-to-use-cash-now-for-all-purchases-to-save-more-money/766229/60 "2016-09-19T14:02:57Z")
> [@Peremensoe](#): > > You _never_ get a meal or a drink away from home? No entertainment spending of any kind? That’s hard to believe. You can buy drinks and food with a credit card. As has been said, if it works for the OP, well what ever floats your boat. I pretty much exclusively us a CC. I just don’t buy what I don’t need. :shrug: My wife and I are both that kind of ‘shopper’. If we need something, we will either buy it online, or go to the store, buy what we need and that’s that. We both hate shopping. Perhaps that’s the difference. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-decided-to-use-cash-now-for-all-purchases-to-save-more-money/766229.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-decided-to-use-cash-now-for-all-purchases-to-save-more-money/766229.md?page=4)