Comments on: Five Reasons to Always Pay with Cash (And Throw Your Credit Cards Away) http://www.americanconsumernews.com/2007/11/five-reasons-to-always-pay-with-cash-and-throw-your-credit-cards-away.html News for Consumers in Changing Times Sun, 12 Feb 2012 04:49:00 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: AJ http://www.americanconsumernews.com/2007/11/five-reasons-to-always-pay-with-cash-and-throw-your-credit-cards-away.html/comment-page-1#comment-3097 AJ Sun, 03 Feb 2008 07:34:07 +0000 http://www.financeispersonal.com/2007/11/five-reasons-to-always-pay-with-cash-and-throw-your-credit-cards-away.html#comment-3097 I myself like using cash instead of credit cards. It saves you time in checking your credit card statements. It just simplifies life in a little way. I try to manage my money by withdrawing cash weekly and divide (budget) it in categories. I noticed that my spending habits have improved. I don't worry about how much I will be paying my credit card anymore. Another reason why cash is better: It lessens impulsive buying. I have this problem for a while and whenever I go out and get bored, I just buy anything just for the sake of it. Now since I don't bring my credit cards with me anymore, it takes away the feeling that I can afford things I really can't. I actually feel much better going home without the item I felt like buying. I myself like using cash instead of credit cards. It saves you time in checking your credit card statements. It just simplifies life in a little way.

I try to manage my money by withdrawing cash weekly and divide (budget) it in categories. I noticed that my spending habits have improved. I don’t worry about how much I will be paying my credit card anymore.

Another reason why cash is better: It lessens impulsive buying. I have this problem for a while and whenever I go out and get bored, I just buy anything just for the sake of it. Now since I don’t bring my credit cards with me anymore, it takes away the feeling that I can afford things I really can’t. I actually feel much better going home without the item I felt like buying.

]]> By: sab http://www.americanconsumernews.com/2007/11/five-reasons-to-always-pay-with-cash-and-throw-your-credit-cards-away.html/comment-page-1#comment-1274 sab Mon, 26 Nov 2007 00:16:01 +0000 http://www.financeispersonal.com/2007/11/five-reasons-to-always-pay-with-cash-and-throw-your-credit-cards-away.html#comment-1274 I agree with 'Broke Grad Student'. I use my credit card for everything; use credit cards that give me cash back for everything I buy. One can overspend using a credit card, I agree, but it is a matter a personal discipline and training to refrain from doing so. Credit cards are continent method of payment and gives a itemized list of all the charges made on it in the form of a monthly statement. Here is what I do: 1. Insist that the credit card company send me a statement via mail; no electronic statements. E-statements get lost in the tons of junk E-mails. 2. When I get my paper statement for the three credit cards I use, I go through all the line items. Divide my expenses into 10 categories Robert Allen talks about in his book Multiple Streams of Income. 3. Since I like graphs and charts, I plot the total of each of these categories using a bar graph. 4. I know some would consider this to be tedious but I take no more that half hour in going through all the three credit card statements I get, categorizing then, adding each of the categories together and plotting them using a bar graph. 5. In addition to this I evaluate one item in the 'Fun Category' that could have been avoided. Doing these few vital steps, gives me a greater control on my expenses that I make using credit cards. I agree with ‘Broke Grad Student’. I use my credit card for everything; use credit cards that give me cash back for everything I buy. One can overspend using a credit card, I agree, but it is a matter a personal discipline and training to refrain from doing so.

Credit cards are continent method of payment and gives a itemized list of all the charges made on it in the form of a monthly statement.

Here is what I do:
1. Insist that the credit card company send me a statement via mail; no electronic statements. E-statements get lost in the tons of junk E-mails.
2. When I get my paper statement for the three credit cards I use, I go through all the line items. Divide my expenses into 10 categories Robert Allen talks about in his book Multiple Streams of Income.
3. Since I like graphs and charts, I plot the total of each of these categories using a bar graph.
4. I know some would consider this to be tedious but I take no more that half hour in going through all the three credit card statements I get, categorizing then, adding each of the categories together and plotting them using a bar graph.
5. In addition to this I evaluate one item in the ‘Fun Category’ that could have been avoided.

Doing these few vital steps, gives me a greater control on my expenses that I make using credit cards.

]]> By: Broke Grad Student http://www.americanconsumernews.com/2007/11/five-reasons-to-always-pay-with-cash-and-throw-your-credit-cards-away.html/comment-page-1#comment-1220 Broke Grad Student Sat, 24 Nov 2007 10:07:33 +0000 http://www.financeispersonal.com/2007/11/five-reasons-to-always-pay-with-cash-and-throw-your-credit-cards-away.html#comment-1220 Thanks for dropping by and leaving a comment on my post about <a href="http://brokegradstudent.com/why-i-use-credit-cards/" rel="nofollow">why I use credit cards</a>. This is an interesting counterpoint. While I'd have to agree that only paying cash is the safest way to guarantee that you don't spend more than you have, I still have a hard time believing that completely abstaining from credit cards would solve everyone's debt problems. It's like abstinence-only sex ed — great in theory, but it doesn't really work in practice. That's why even though I use credit cards for almost everything, I wouldn't recommend it for everyone. I also wouldn't recommend always paying with cash for everyone. Like I mentioned in my blog, I think the choice is a personal decision that requires serious self evaluation. This means being honest with yourself about your spending habits and knowing the potential risks of using credit cards. Thanks for dropping by and leaving a comment on my post about why I use credit cards.

This is an interesting counterpoint. While I’d have to agree that only paying cash is the safest way to guarantee that you don’t spend more than you have, I still have a hard time believing that completely abstaining from credit cards would solve everyone’s debt problems. It’s like abstinence-only sex ed — great in theory, but it doesn’t really work in practice.

That’s why even though I use credit cards for almost everything, I wouldn’t recommend it for everyone. I also wouldn’t recommend always paying with cash for everyone. Like I mentioned in my blog, I think the choice is a personal decision that requires serious self evaluation. This means being honest with yourself about your spending habits and knowing the potential risks of using credit cards.

]]> By: tdepp http://www.americanconsumernews.com/2007/11/five-reasons-to-always-pay-with-cash-and-throw-your-credit-cards-away.html/comment-page-1#comment-1210 tdepp Fri, 23 Nov 2007 20:39:34 +0000 http://www.financeispersonal.com/2007/11/five-reasons-to-always-pay-with-cash-and-throw-your-credit-cards-away.html#comment-1210 Amen! Cash is always welcome. And when it's a wad of bills in your wallet, it's a lot more tangible. I try to do this now as well. Amen! Cash is always welcome. And when it’s a wad of bills in your wallet, it’s a lot more tangible. I try to do this now as well.

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