Using cash instead of cards makes you think!

rsdiscos

I just find that seeing the notes being handed over means you think about whether you need the item and I remember what I have spent more than when I put amounts on the debit card.
That sean - by the time you are going through your statement isn't it already too late to 'plug the drain'? Whereas if you try and stick to a weekly spend target you can adjust the next week by spending less or know you have a little bit to play with.
I don't know I suppose I have only been doing this for 2 weeks so I have to keep up the checking and totting up every couple of days but I am enjoying the challenge.
Melissa

PROLIANT

What an inspiring thread, I always pay by Visa for almost everything and although I have a budget in mind it is too easy to go "over budget" and it all ads up.

So, from next pay day I am going to leave my main debit card at home when shopping at Tescos and take my spare Visa with no overdraft and the weekly shop budget loaded on it.

p00

fablad75 wrote: »

Hmm. I seem to be in the minority here. I only use my credit card because:

1) it's a cashback card, which means everyt penny I spend on it is getting me something back (only 1%, but it adds up!)

2) I am less likely to spend the money if I don't have it in my pocket. I'm far more likely to buy a snack or a Coke when I pass the newsagents if I have loose change in my pocket, instead of a credit card.

I have used a card for years to get the points or cashback but have found that although we can pay it off each month we were buying whatever we wanted in the supermarkets instead of thinking about it. For a few weeks Ive changed to a budget of cash to reign things in and whats left each week goes in a tin. I now have more cash in the tin than I would have ever got cashback on the card and spent quite a bit less so its worked for us.

xxp00

Inactive

Inspiring thread.

It is good to see so many people using cash, instead of plastic. Whenever I have said that I use mainly cash instead of plastic, I have been laughed down on here, once being called a luddite.

As others have said, it is all too easy to spend using plastic, it isn't " real money " is it?;) ( of course it is, but it is difficult at times to relate to real money ).

So keep up the good work .. cash is king ..

rsdiscos

I had to call in sick today with nausea and the runs - that's not going to help my budget.
I really wish it would develop into full blown sickness as I feel a bit of a fraud - however I didn't think it would be a good idea to throw up in front of class full of children!
My kids came home yesterday asking for £5 each for the book fair so I told them they could have it but it would come out of their pocket money their granny had given them!
The school have asked for donations of 50p each or food in 5/6 weeks they have been back ( Harvest, Baggy jumper, Cafod, Church fair, Partner school in India) and I'm getting a bit racked off with it as I am also chairperson of the PFA and the head always is going on about how parents can't fund things - the phrase charity begins at home comes to mind!
Anyway I think I'd better do a bit of gentle tidying up
Melissa

PROLIANT

Inactive wrote: »

once being called a luddite.

Was that me, I can't remember.

Inactive

PROLIANT wrote: »

Was that me, I can't remember.

Possibly.. :rotfl:

I honestly cannot remember.

If it was, you are forgiven.;)

newlywed

I find when I use my debit card at the beginning of the month, I do a food shop for what we "need" and it always comes to more than I thought :rolleyes:

But when the end of the month rolls round and I only have £20 cash to my name to last the week, I can usually keep to that by being really careful :rolleyes:

I'm thinking maybe I should try cash all the time for food shops but have this huge fear I'll get to the checkout, it'll be more than I thought and I'll end up using the card

rsdiscos

I did have to use my card for part payment the other day when tescos had 2 disney films for £15- it was a bargain for xmas I couldn't leave behind I got the 40th Anniversary edition of Jungle Book ( It was over £20 on play.com when it first came out) and Wall E. I had to pay £8 on my card but I had banked £44 of loose change earlier in the day so I could justify it to myself;).

rsdiscos

Just wrote a long note and lost it!
I got into work today and have work for tommorrow -yippee!
Stretched my chicken for another meal (chicken dinner, stirfry and two lots of sandwiches) which it good considering we used to buy a spitroast chicken from asda and eat it all in one day.
My aims for half term are to clean out my kitchen cupboards and make a list of what I've got, do a good few hours up the allotment clearing and laying out beds, get a few more christmas presents ( £5 limit on brothers and sisters) DS7 would like a Nintendo Ds and some games so need to find a good deal and DS4 loves Ben 10 alien force stuff.
How's everyone else doing spending cash rather than spending on their cards?
Melissa