Paying With Cash Hurts
I am learning to undo some habits and that is not so easy. I went to the grocery store to pick up a few things for my fast and was VERY hungry. I popped open the fruit juice and drank it while finishing my shopping. By the time I got to the register, I realized that I didn't have any cash. I paid for the juice with the last $5 in my purse and left the other groceries there. It wasn't much and they didn't have everything I needed, so it was no big deal. I later went to the bank to withdraw some money-I didn't want to because paying with cash hurts.
Paying with cash, the actual paper and metal money really makes a difference. We can FEEL how much we spend. Plastic anesthetizes us. It delays the inevitable--figuring out where the money is coming from to pay the bill. Even with debit cards, we are quicker to spend than with the money coming directly from our hands. When I withdrew the money from my account, I kinda panicked. The amount of cash on hand set a REAL spending limit. No credit card back up, if I mismanage these dollars, I do without the rest of week. This is a habit I am going to continue after the fast--my allowance will be withdrawn once a week and that money will be for some particular things. Once it is gone, it is gone-so if I want that $50 dinner with friends, I better eat whatever is in the fridge/freezer for the rest of the week. And if I want something that exceeds my allowance, I have to have some money left from the week before to add to it.
So, tomorrow's task is to update my quicken file and see how much money I can allot myself for incidentals/personal items (a lot of which will be saved during this fast since I am only spending on necessities). How are you coming along?
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