Do you ever fall off the train?

[cypher1]

I think you are the first person I've known of that is more responsible when using plastic than cash. This is the opposite of most people (there are actually some studies on this). I personally find it harder (psychologically) to part with cold, hard cash than to pull out my plastic. I definitely spend less when I'm using cash.

I think we all "know" that a bill will come later, but for some reason it just isn't the same as parting with money right now (and I'm a very responsible, financially savvy person).

I was just going to say, I feel the exact same to spend my cash (which I hardly carry now). The main bad habit I have with CC is spending on what I don't need. It's too easy to swipe a plastic card than pay with cash, or even writing a check out. Years ago my friends used to laugh at me when I wrote checks, but I told them, doing the tedious work made me second guess all my purchases. But I wanted to manage most of my bills via a CC and switched. Right before each purchase, I have to ask myself if this is really a need, or just a want.

[disneysteve]

I think you are the first person I've known of that is more responsible when using plastic than cash. This is the opposite of most people (there are actually some studies on this). I personally find it harder (psychologically) to part with cold, hard cash than to pull out my plastic. I definitely spend less when I'm using cash.

I think we all "know" that a bill will come later, but for some reason it just isn't the same as parting with money right now (and I'm a very responsible, financially savvy person).

I know I'm weird. I always hear the studies that people spend 18% or 29% or 47% more when using a credit card. I'm not like that. I don't decide what to buy or how much to spend based on how I plan to pay. That just isn't a factor. I spend what I'm going to spend no matter what. Most of the time, I pay by credit but sometimes, if I happen to have extra cash for some reason, I'll decide at the register to pay with cash.

I've said many times that I can't comprehend those studies saying people spend more with credit. My mind just doesn't work that way. When I'm standing in a store looking at an item, I don't think, "Gee, if I bought this now, how would I pay for it?" I just decide if I want to buy the item. If I do, then I buy it. If I don't, then I don't buy it. But the form of payment never enters into the decision.

McDonald's did a study years ago when they first experimented with accepting credit cards. They found that customers paying by credit spent something like 45% more than those paying with cash. That is just bizarre to me. Paying by credit card doesn't make me want to eat 45% more food. If I want a burger and fries, I want a burger and fries. I don't want a burger, fries, milkshake and apple pie. Sorry, but I just can't fathom how people base their spending, and even their eating, decisions on what form of payment they are using.

[MonkeyMama]

I'm with Steve because I find it much easier to track electronic transactions. Lord knows where the cash goes. I don't treat the tenders differently, it's the same to me, but it is just easier to track where all the electronic spending goes.

I can't help but wonder if that mind shift will change with the younger generation. For me, I have simply always paid by check or credit card - I have never much dealt with cash - and the younger generation will probably handle even less cash than I have. I see no reason why I would spend more just because I use a more electronic form of payment.

[disneysteve]

I'm with Steve because I find it much easier to track electronic transactions.

That's for sure. There is really no debating that no matter what you think about credit cards. When I spend cash, the only record is the paper receipt which usually gets lost somewhere along the line, and some purchases don't even generate that much. With a debit card, there are dozens of transactions per month to track and record when I get home. With a credit card, there is one single entry in my checking account register when I pay the bill. The bill itself provides a detailed breakdown of the spending. And each year, the credit card company provides an annual summary of charges broken down by category (auto, travel, dining, etc.).

I can't imagine balancing my checkbook each month if we both used debit cards for all of the purchases that we currently make with credit cards. It would take an hour to go through all of the transactions.

[littleroc02us]

I don't understand any of your guys ideas whether it be cash or credit cards, my wife and I use a very strict budget that zero balances per item, it isn't perfect but for example we do ours bi-weekly and I knew that I had to buy a wireless remote control for the new motor I put in, since it was in the budget I simply walked in with my check card and bought the item with the budgeted amount and paid for it. I didn't think about anything. We also use the envelope system where I put cash in them and when my wife gets groceries she can only spend what's in there. Nothing to think about. Gas is the only thing we put on credit card and that's only to keep it active. Our going out money is a set amount and if we don't have it we don't spend it. If there's a situtation where something pops up that we need we have to buy it and then readjust the bugdet. What makes this work is that I don't keep anything in our checking account excepts that bi-weekly's pay, so every thing we do has a dollar amount attached to it, whether it be investments, mortgage payments, groceries, etc.... So if we use a credit card or cash it doesn't matter because it's predetermined, the study where people spend more with credit cards is true for a lot of people, but doesn't exist with our plans and goals.

[snafu]

Sure I fall off the track once-in-a-while but I pay myself 1st by having a very specific investing plan with sums automatically invested twice each month. I've built in a overage every quarter for personal spending and have a glass jar 'owl' for change. It's pretty weird paying with Loonies & Toonies [$1. - $2.] coins from the jar.