A Cash Diet....Makes it Easy

[Cash Control]

What is a Cash Diet? Let me explain. Living on a Cash Diet is quite simply getting cash out at the start of the week and using ALL CASH for your weekly spending. No more plastic, no more debit cards, no more autospend without conscience, afterthought or financial remorse!

But plastic is so convenient right? Well yes it is convenient, that’s the problem! It’s just far too easy to spend with plastic and so hard to know where your money is going. Not only is it hard to know where your money is going, it’s hard to know how fast it’s going and how much is left to go! About the only way to keep on track is by keeping receipts, reconciling, pawing through bank statements and all that boring stuff that we never do anyway!

A Cash Diet is much simpler and more effective. There is something about seeing those notes fly out of your wallet that makes spending more real! You figure out you need say $200 to cover groceries, food out, transport and fun money. You get your cash out and you go about your week. Once the $200 is gone that is it. Pretty quickly you get good at making sure it lasts through the week. Plus it’s impossible to “accidentally” over spend. You automatically control how much you spend without any hassles with checking and monitoring.

I put all my customers on this Cash Diet and it works wonders. It makes life easier and less stressful. It’s automatic and easy, and that is what I like. Anyone can benefit from this simple advice.

Cam Milnes
Cash Control

[sweeps]

And best of all, the Cash Diet is free of charge, right?

[Cash Control]

Absolutely Sweeps. Free and pretty easy, anyone can get onto a Cash Diet! And should do in my opnion. A nice bonus is it means you give the bank less in transaction fees, which I also like!

[crabbypatty]

The concept works for me but the application doesn't.

Just something to keep in mind... A woman fumbling around with cash and trying to corral small children can quickly become a target. Swiping a (debit/check) card and immediately sticking in the front pocket of your pants is safer.

[poundwise]

This seems very much like the envelope system espoused by many. I remember my parents having a book of envelopes in the desk drawer when I was a kid. I think they put most of a paycheck, in cash, in that thing. Groceries, car gas, etc. was all paid from these envelopes.

Some members of this forum still do this. It, and/or other variations of a 'cash diet' system, is quite effective for many people.

Even those of us who do not utilize it but use software or spreadsheets to do a budget and cash-flow system sometimes use 'virtual envelopes.' That is, while using cash is certainly workable, even those who don't want to do that can benefit from the idea of allocating the money ahead of time and leaving it aside until the allocated amount is used up.

[Broken Arrow]

Welcome to the forums, Cash Control.

Your proposal is sound. I just want to add that I think the prerequisite to effectively utilizing methods of cash control is money psychology and then budgeting.

First, we need to understand why we are spending, and how we can bring a better balance into our financial life. We also need to consciously decide to pursue such balance. If we are still bent on being spendy, then no methods of cash control will ultimately save us.

Next, we need to learn to set up a budget, and then track our expenses. Once that's running along nicely, then we can use any method of cash control we like without too many problems.

Having said that, I agree that cash is argueably the easiest way to keep track of money... because if nothing else, one can always open their wallet and count the money that's left.

[sparkysgirl]

I would love to go to a cash diet, and for the most part I have. I am an avid rebater though with 2 young children. i can often do rebates for meat and seafood and easily not have the money that goes into it. I have a rewards card that I use and pay it off as the rebates come in.

[disneysteve]

Originally Posted by Cash Control

But plastic is so convenient right? Well yes it is convenient, that’s the problem! It’s just far too easy to spend with plastic and so hard to know where your money is going. Not only is it hard to know where your money is going, it’s hard to know how fast it’s going and how much is left to go! About the only way to keep on track is by keeping receipts, reconciling, pawing through bank statements and all that boring stuff that we never do anyway!

I disagree with you here. I find it much easier to track my spending and my purchases when I use a credit card. Why? Because once a month they send me a statement that lists each and every purchase. And anytime, day or night, I can go online and see a list of my transactions and my current balance. Plus at year end, I can get an annual report of all of my charges broken down by category: Dining, Auto, Retail, Travel, etc. It is a fantastic budgeting tool and they do all the work for me.

Also, if you don't keep receipts, reconcile bank statements and do "all that boring stuff" maybe that's why someone has spending problems in the first place.

[LuxLiving]

It isn't so easy for me...it just disappears. The way I am currently handling our spending works for us. One size does not necessarily fit all. And, we do have good control on our plastic usage and our spending overall with the methods we now use.

I mean it sounds good in principal, but...

[sakigt]

I am currently going back to my cash diet. I somehow got away from it these past 2 months and need to get back on track. I use my card for only gas and the grocery store. I have $20 per work week and $20 per weekend to spend. Its very helpful to me.

[jIM_Ohio]

We use a cash diet here for gas, grocerys and hair appointments. Debit cards are "bad"... too easy to go out for lunch or do those other things which add up.

I could have a debit card and never use it.
My wife did not know how to cope when I initially put us on cash plan.

We have other accounts we use for other bills- we have 4 total bank accounts, one of accounts gets the ~$400/bi weekly needed for cash withdraws. We withdraw the cash we have budgeted and are "done" with that account. Other 3 accounts are used for other types of bills.

not for me thanks


as I've said before, I buy something that costs 3.95 with a 5 dollar bill, I may as well throw that 1.05 in the trash. whether via sodas or something else, that leftover will not go to good use.

with my credit card (used to be debit but others here have convinced me that's not smart), I spend only what is required to take possession of the target item with no leftover.

now granted, I have my spending habits under control, did that first, so I don't suffer from the effect of overspending that is all so common when plastic is used. There are months where I make as many as 4 credit card payments as I continually track and reconcile my spending.

ironically, that's hurt my credit score but that's another story.


pretty much you have people way over on one side who are hopeless with money regardless of the medium, folks way over on the other who have "real time" recognition of their finances so it doesn't matter how they transact their commerce, the numbers don't change and the vast majority in the middle just trying to figure it all out.

[jIM_Ohio]

Originally Posted by rexdart

not for me thanks


as I've said before, I buy something that costs 3.95 with a 5 dollar bill, I may as well throw that 1.05 in the trash. whether via sodas or something else, that leftover will not go to good use.

with my credit card (used to be debit but others here have convinced me that's not smart), I spend only what is required to take possession of the target item with no leftover.

now granted, I have my spending habits under control, did that first, so I don't suffer from the effect of overspending that is all so common when plastic is used. There are months where I make as many as 4 credit card payments as I continually track and reconcile my spending.

ironically, that's hurt my credit score but that's another story.


pretty much you have people way over on one side who are hopeless with money regardless of the medium, folks way over on the other who have "real time" recognition of their finances so it doesn't matter how they transact their commerce, the numbers don't change and the vast majority in the middle just trying to figure it all out.

It's OK to NOT account for every penny on the cash plan.

I need one tank of gas per week, so I fill up tank for $45, and have $5 change to spend freely that week. Accounting for every penny is not worth my time.

[Broken Arrow]

For the sake of conversation, I just thought that I'd point out there are subtleties in terms of what we are tracking.

For example, if someone is just starting out, and their budgeting skills aren't up to par yet or their primary concern is to make sure they have enough money for living expenses until they get paid again, carrying cash isn't such a bad idea. In that way, a person can check how much they have left, anytime they want, and make an informed decision thereafter.

Of course, many members on here are far beyond that point, and are more interested in other issues, such as knowing what percentage of their money are going to what category of expenses, why, and how they can be streamlined further. In which case, simply carrying cash would not answer that question.

But that's why I believe that the answer would vary for each individual. And in that way, that's also why I neither agree nor disagree with anyone on this. In the end, I believe the best method to use is the one that works best for you!

(Incidentally, that's also why I'm typically leery of canned answers. Personal financing isn't one-size-fits-all.)

Originally Posted by jIM_Ohio

It's OK to NOT account for every penny on the cash plan.

I need one tank of gas per week, so I fill up tank for $45, and have $5 change to spend freely that week. Accounting for every penny is not worth my time.

yes, exactly, and since I use no pennies, there are no pennies to track, no cash plan necessary.

[LuxLiving]

jIM_Ohio, it may be because of salary or psychological reasons not necessary for YOU to keep track of every penny. Other people, because of low salaries or poor spending habits, may be required to do so. Then there are others of us who get a big kick out of the habit. When someone is first starting out budgeting and there aren't enough blankets (cash) to reach both sides of the bed (needs) then a strict accounting can be very helpful. Both in the wasteful sense of spending and in the habits required to keep themselves on track. No shame if someone likes or needs to do the tracking.

[jIM_Ohio]

If I came across as critical, my apologies. My point was if the cash is out of the bank, the well is dry except for what we have in cash.

We then see exactly where money is going. We don't get lazy and order out from McD's or other places. We don't go to bars as much and throw back as many drinks as we would otherwise... we can see the cash we have "disappear" as we spend it.

spending is psycological and requires discipline... and most people don't have an income problem, they have a spending problem... so I see why people track every penny, I know in our situation we'd rather do other things. I spend 2/3 of the year on a soccer field coaching, my wife prefers to work more and relax at home... tracking finances for us is a matter of having a budget, knowing the budget, and having a way where the budget works without watching it every day (because we spend money every day).

[LuxLiving]

I didn't think you were being critical - just wanted to clarify that sometimes for the psychological and budget constraint reasons, there is reason to track and it's okay! There may be more people w/low paying jobs than you realize who are actively interested in saving.

We have a cash diet of sorts but it appears to be different than OPs. CASH is what is limited here because from us it escaped WAY too easily. We are more leary of spending w/CC, checks, and debit cards than with cash. So, for us, we budget and stay on it by knowing the budget and give ourselves a VERY limited amount of cash to play with. It works for us.

I go ONCE a month to the joint bank account for spending money/allowances. The Hubster gets a bit more than me - $20 A WEEK - his covers cigarettes & haircuts & any other small incidental he'd like and mine is for the occasional lunch out, candy or whatever I can stretch it too - you'd be surprised how far I can stretch $10 A MONTH!! Everything else is budgeted to it's respective categories (investments & spending) and doled out accordingly by either debit card, check, automatic bill-pay or the occasional CC usage to gather the float.

Everyone has to do what works for them. And, it varies from person to person, and from season to season. There was a time when CCs were a problem for us. That season has passed and so our habits/disciplines have changed.

[Ima saver]

I have used the cash method all my life, I put my cash in the envelopes . We each get a set allowance each week in cash. I do not have a debit card nor have I ever used an ATM machine. The money in the checking account is for paying bills not spending. We do charge sometimes, but only what we can pay off each month. My husband does most of the charging. It is for materials at home depot that are paid off out of our business checking. We earn cash back for this.

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

I agree that this is not a one-size-fits-all principle.

Sincerely, I do not believe that how much money I spend is much influenced by the vehicle by which I spend it. I'm just not impulsive in my purchases. I do not spend more when carrying a credit card than when carrying cash. And as has been pointed out many times, I get a rebate on credit card spending, plus I get organized records of that spending. I wish I could find ways to put more of my bills on credit card. There are still some that can't be paid that way.

There are certain things I use cash for, but they are few.