Using Cash

by Nina
(Illinois, USA)

For the past month, I decided to take out all of my living expenses in cash.

The only money I leave in my checking account is for my automatic bill payments that either come off my credit card or are directly debited from my checking account.

I then have a certain amount that goes into my various savings accounts.

The other amount is for living expenses and a personal allowance. So things like groceries, dining out, movies, household items and entertainment. It's worked well to help me to see right away how much money I have left.

It makes me almost stingy because I want to end the two week period with some money left over... so that I can buy items to decorate my house.

It's definitely an incentive to spend only what I need to spend. So now I don't go crazy buying $100 worth of groceries when I really only need $35 worth!

I hope this tip is helpful to someone!

StartMyBudget.com says:

Never underestimate the joy of "beating your budget"! It makes those extra luxury purchases feel like you got them FREE! Thanks for the idea, Nina!