Cash in Hand

Maybe I’ve mentioned it before, but I work retail every day of the week. I sold a customer a cup of coffee for $.75 and she paid for it with change from the bottom of her purse. How many times have you scrounged around the change jar or cupholders of the car to buy a “necessity” or and impulse? 

Whenever I talk to people about handling cash, they typically say that if they have cash, they are less likely to spend it. I am exactly the opposite way. If I have $20 in my pocket, I know I can spend that entire thing. Most people just swipe and don’t even think about it. Having cash shows them exactly how much they can spend and for me, that is a terrible idea.

 I believe I may be the one person who spends more frivolously when I have cash in hand. If I have one dollar in the bottom of my purse at work, I will spend it on a candy bar from the vending machine. If I take $20 with me at the bar, I will surely come home with zero. 

If I’m at a store I’ll take multiple reasoning steps before even swiping my debit card. 

Do I really need this? Do I have enough money in my account to cover it? Will they get mad at me for using a card on a purchase under $10? Are those funds already allocated for something else?

Maybe it would be different if I used my credit card more often, but even then I still know I’ll have to pay it off when the statement comes. 

If I have cash in my pocket/purse/car, I will try and get as much as I can for that amount of money. I’ll use coupons and find discounts, but I don’t actually rationalize if I really need something. 

Having cash at the end of last month really put me in the red. With Mint not understanding about my extra loan payment, I kind of lost track of things this month, which lead me to spending that cash a bit frivolously

My favorite part about budgeting is that on the first everything gets set back to zero. I’ll start over and have another month to get things on the right track. August didn’t set much behind, but every transaction is an opportunity to save.