Cash or Card – Who wins? Part Two

So last week was all about the plastic. I attempted to survive for a week using no cash at all. It was hard. Actually it was downright impossible and I’ll admit that I cheated on more than one occasion. The thing is that even in our oh-so-modern 21st century, there are any number of times that only cash will do. This week however, the tables were turned as I attempted to survive using only cash.

Monday
I’m not one to carry large amounts of cash. I think that if I do that I’ll suddenly be gripped by the urge to spend it all, so I start Monday with £20 in cash in my purse. A quick race around the local shop and it’s clear that £20 just isn’t going to cut it, meaning I am forced to hide my basket under the flowers, nip outside and get some more cash out.

Tuesday
Unthwarted I continue on my mission to be prepared but spend as little as possible. Everything goes pretty well but then again I’m working from home with very little that could go wrong. Internet shopping becomes very academic in a ‘look but don’t touch’ kind of way and I congratulate myself on keeping to my daily budget admirably.

Wednesday
I panic and suddenly realise that my car tax is overdue. There’s no way around it, I have to pay online. The plastic card fairly springs out of my purse in a bid to demonstrate it’s worth. Job done, I shove it back into the dark – out of sight, out of mind.

Thursday
The children are really getting in to the swing of it now. They help me count my cash before we go anywhere, and look carefully at the prices of everything before asking if they can have one. Obviously it doesn’t affect the answer but it’s good that they’re thinking along the right lines!

Friday
It’s not been bad at all. There’s been a couple of large items I’ve put off buying, loathe to take too much cash out at once, but all in all this week’s worked well. We’ve definitely spent less through thinking about it more, and best of all when the kids come out of school today it’s ice creams all round!

I survived my two weeks! On reflection I spent much less in the week I was only carrying cash. I made a conscious decision to carry less and go to the ATM more and of course that wouldn’t suit everyone but I enjoyed being more discerning in my spending. All in all, a really worthwhile experiment.
 

Monday, 16th May 2011

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