For the past week I've lived on an all-cash basis. Because I was waiting for my credit and debit cards to be replaced, I was forced to raid my stash of emergency funds (aka hurricane cash and my mother's pocketbook). Perhaps unsurprisingly, this affected almost every move I made. It's not too big of a deal to buy gas with cash, but I did have to check how much money I currently possessed before I made every purchase. And because I was traveling, I couldn't decide I needed a snack on the airplane or, more importantly, pay for a hotel room. Hotels don't take cash anymore (which is why you should always travel with a boss who has a credit card).
I've heard advice from money managers that if you want to curtail your spending, you should cut up all your credits cards (except maybe one emergency card) and live on an all-cash basis. I can see that this makes one aware of exactly where money is going, but I don't think it's a process that works for me. I was hyper-aware of where I spent my money this week, and because I'm such an incredibly frugal person (bordering on a cheapskate) I was troubled whenever I had to spend any money at all. Logically, I know that we have money to put gas in our car, and I know that going out to eat once a week is in the budget. But when it actually comes to spend that money, it causes me grief. My credit card is my way of buffering myself from the pain of spending. In fact, if that old trope "I make all the money and my spouse spends it all" actually turns out to be true at some time in our married life, it would be a good thing.
So, the good news is I now have credit cards. The bad news is I had to use them to torture my cat. Today she gave blood, received an infusion of fluids, got a shot of steroids, and had a lot of things poured into her injured eye. On top of all that, she has to wear an unstylish sweater and headgear combo.
3 comments:
oh dear, your poor kitty! I worry a lot more since the scare earlier this year with our dear old puss, who has arthritis. Good thing you had the credit cards in time.
That's very funny that you use credit cards since you are such a frugal person. I am certain you pay them off immediately so you're not accruing any interest penalties but your insight into not having to feel the pain of seeing the actual cash go down. The NL is a very cash/pin society. You get the benefit of paying with what feels like an intermediary (a savings card) and this is deducted immediately from your bank account.
Psychologically I think it does something similar for me. When you pay with actual cash I think you feel it more acutely. But I abhor credit cards in principal, so I tend to pay cash over credit any time possible.
Alexis, you make a good point that debit cards could be a way to "ease the pain" without taking on extra credit. I hadn't used them much in the past because in the US there is no protection - if someone uses your debit card fraudulently, banks aren't obligated to cover that, although they are with credit cards. But I just found out that my debit card with our online bank has that protection, so I might reconsider my tactics.
It is getting quite amazing that cash is becoming less and less a usable commodity. Kind of freaks out the old timer.
I suspect I know exactly genetically where your uber frugal nature can be linked :)
If your cat takes after you, I suspect the lack of style is much more painful than the procedures were!
Post a Comment