For those who did not read the previous post about this, I started the month of September with $10 cash with the hope that it would be sufficient to carry me through the month. I was pretty hopeful about the time I wrote the previous post. However, two things happened that took me way beyond the $10 cash limit.
1. My wife found a cockroach in one of our closets and sprayed a gallon of Raid insect spray on it. That resulted in most of our clothes smelling like Raid. So, laundry $4.50. (Unexpected)
2. I forgot that the barber shop that cuts my hair takes only cash; $10 + $2 in tip. (I should have forseen this)
Lessons for next month:
1. Do something about pest control (I will write more about this very soon).
2. Look for a barber shop that accepts credit cards.
I am determined to continue this $10-a-month experiment through the month of October, hopefully this time there will be no surprises.
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Do you find that when you do not have cash you spend less, or you just spend less cash and end up putting spending more on your credit card?
Jon Postal
beyoungandrich.blogspot.com
Jon: I know where you are leading to. Yes, I do spend less when I do not have cash.
Immediate item where my cash flow has stopped is vending machines in school…fortunately credit cards don’t work there…yet :).
Awww…I was really pulling for you! (Now I don’t feel so bad, cuz I know there’s no way $10 would last me 30 days…)
mollysbrother: thanks for the encouragement
I’m well into my 7th month of cash-free-ness, originally because I forgot the pin number to my debit card.
Only things I don’t like is have to be a bastard at the barber and not give a tip, and can’t buy a booklet of stamps from the post office. Fortunatly, my post office has a credit card machine that will print postage for me as needed.
Also, can’t goto any dollar stores, since they don’t take plastic. Fortunatly I don’t have toll booths around here. I do keep a few bucks in cash and change in my car, just in case have to park in a parking garage or at a meter or something. So far havn’t.
Several pretty big advantages for being plastic only. One, if you use Microsoft Money or something to automagically download purchases ever day, you know exactly where all the money is going. Also, if get a good “cash reward” card, you’ll get 3% cash back. I even worked the cash back into my budget
Pay the card off every week or 2 and pay no interest, Citibank must hate me. They get their money from the vendor tho.
Good luck with cash free, its the only way to fly.
Not only do I spend less when I use credit cards, I do not get sick as often. When you handle cash, you also get — at no extra charge — all the germs of the other people who have handled the cash.
I go only to stores that allow me to swipe my card myself, so that no one else handles my credit card. I keep moist towelettes in the car, wipe my hands and the card after pumping gas.
I also have a credit card with a good rewards program, and I am disciplined at the store. I budget $100 per week for gas, groceries, and miscellaneous stuff, and that works just fine for me. When that $100 is gone, it’s gone in my mind, just like cash others would keep in their pockets if using a cash-only system.
I also keep an “irregular savings” entry in my checkbook in Quicken, to cover extra items or services that I may need during the month. When I put something on the card, I add the purchase to my next card payment and then I deduct it from the balance of my irregular savings entry. I continually re-date the irregular savings entry to fall on the day before my next paycheck, so that it is easy to locate. This irregular fund does not come out of my regular pay packet, but only from overtime or expense checks (at least the portion that is not dedicated to savings or investment).
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