Saturday, August 15, 2009

Cash Only Experiment

Next month I am doing an experiment on myself - CASH ONLY for one month. My hypothesis is that I will spend even less money than I currently do if I have only cash.

I have wondered about this quite a lot lately. The tipping factor was an article I read on CNN about shopping. (Look at my "Must Read Article" post for the link if you are interested.) In one study they found that people that used credit cards payed 300% more for an item than those who had only cash to spend. WOW!

Now, I am really good at keeping a budget, even with credit cards. However, if I am under budget I do find myself "indulging" more in little expenditures. So next month I am going plasticless. It will be interesting to see how my spending habits change. It will also be interesting to find out how it feels to see the green backs actually exchange hands.

I am devising a TOOL to keep my categories straight. So far it includes envelopes and a small baggie for change. If any of you have a whiz bang way of keeping a budget with cash only I would love to hear about it.

Make sure you stay tuned in for the results of my "highly scientific" self-research :)

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