Home | Why money doesn’t solve your problems »
Give yourself a raise by spending cash
By Anita |
When you are in debt it often seems that are a few - if any - options.
It’s often not possible to instantly increase your monthly income. Until that happens there is one thing you can do to make an immediate difference in your income. It’s the equivalent of giving yourself a raise.
Use cash!
Here at my house we’re working our way out of debt and this fall we kept track of our expenses for one month. We now know how much we typically spend per week on groceries and gas.
Every Friday I go to the ATM machine and withdraw the weekly cash for gas and for groceries and put the cash in envelopes that I keep in my purse. This one thing has relieved tremendous stress even though our income has not increased yet and we are still in debt.
Now that I use cash for these purchases I no longer spend mindlessly. I never have to worry about the debit card declining at the register. Also, there is usually money leftover at the end of the week and I deposit it in our savings account. Spending cash motivates me to be more thrifty. If it’s Wednesday and there is still $50 left for groceries I’m inclined to want to spend wisely so that there is money leftover.
By using cash we are driving more wisely to conserve gas. We’re spending less money each month. In short, we’ve given ourselves a raise.
Soon we will be giving away a free expense tracking form so that you, too, can track your expenses for a month. Expenses fall into two categories. There are the bills that you pay online or with a check.
And for everything else - i.e. purchases made at stores - there’s cash. Sorry, Mastercard.
Topics: Cash |