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How do you feel paying in cash helps compared to cards? I honestly don’t get it. For me, withdrawing and paying cash simply adds unnecessary complexity, and on

How do you feel paying in cash helps compared to cards? I honestly don’t get it. For me, withdrawing and paying cash simply adds unnecessary complexity, and on top of that, it destroys any paper trail you may need for tracking your individual budgets. How come people (mostly in Germany, from my experience) are so obsessed with cash?

sshine 7y ago
Having recently received private financial advisory, my advisor recommended that I do exactly this: Withdraw cash weekly, use only that cash to pay for food. Supposedly, it will make you more aware of how your spending affects your balance. Swiping a card "feels free".
- lostlogin 7y ago
  > Swiping a card "feels free" Could this relate to age or how one grew up? It doesn’t seem like one abstraction is really all that different from the other.
  - newnewpdro 7y ago
    Cash is physical, it's tangible, exists in your hand/wallet, occupies space, carries weight in the real world. It's experientially very different to spend, and for me at least, carries substantially greater negative feedback as my wad diminishes in transactions. Then having to replenish my stash, visiting an ATM or asking for cash back, carries a distinct bite. Those things are largely absent when using cards or other electronic payments like phones. Though you can structure electronic payments such that it at least draws on a very small account requiring explicit replenishing of some inconvenience, to retain some of the bite as weekly or monthly funds become exhausted.
smileysteve 7y ago
The idea is that all of that unnecessary complexity helps make the expenses more tangible. So you're paying with 20s instead of a swipe. This isn't as much of a problem for the thrifty whom feel similar anxiety in using a card. Most likely people who are actively keeping a mental track of where their balance is after every purchase - or using a ledger.
astura 7y ago
The idea is you spend less if getting your money is unnecessarily complicated. Plus since you can physically see your money going away it "hurts" more so you'll be more likely to spend less. This doesn't "work" for everyone. OTOH what really helped a family member of mine understand how much he was spending was getting a credit card. He was on all cash for years and then moved to all debit. Never had any idea what he was spending because if he needed cash he'd just hit up the ATM or when he was using debit just swipe. He always spent less than he had/made but he wasn't paying attention to the amount on a larger scale. Once he got a credit card (at my suggestion) and started putting everyday purchases on it the bill would come at the end of the month. When he say down to pay it off he had to confront the entirety of the money he spent that month. He'd say "what the hell did I spend ${amount} on?" and he'd comb through the transactions and get a much better idea of his spending habits and was able to reduce the purchases that weren't providing him much value.
sneak 7y ago
This could easily be rephrased as “How come people are so obsessed with using payment systems with real-time warrantless government surveillance for all purchases?” I honestly don’t get it. Why would you pay a percent or two to be surveilled? It creates a time stamped track log, too, which can be easily cross-referenced with (also surveilled) cellphone position. https://www.wired.com/2010/12/realtime/ https://www.wired.com/2010/12/realtime/
- Hackbraten 7y ago
  YMMV but I don’t mind payment processors knowing my location. I’d choose that anytime over touching physical money (or having people who process my food touch it).
  - sneak 7y ago
    It’s not just the payment processors, it is also the federal government, who, via parallel construction, have the ability to lock you in a cage for years and effectively prevent you from ever leaving the country thereafter, should they ever desire to do so.
    - redis_mlc 7y ago
      Google buys your payment stream, and can correlate that with your email, browsing and tracking history. Also other companies do this. You have to be a tool to do most of your payments with credit cards now.
      - Hackbraten 7y ago
        Can you imagine that this could be actually a matter of personal preference? Some people may not use Gmail, or any free email services. Others use Apple Pay so the acquirer and bank cannot know what items you bought, and the merchant cannot know your credit card number. Finally, some people enjoy having a digital ledger so they know what they spent. Do you feel your harsh words are justified here?
- 7y ago
newscracker 7y ago
A different context and reasoning: this article inspired me to use cash (wherever possible) for different reasons — “In Praise of Cash”. [1] [1]: https://aeon.co/essays/if-plastic-replaces-cash-much-that-is-good-will-be-lost https://aeon.co/essays/if-plastic-replaces-cash-much-that-is...
deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
satysin 7y ago
I found I had a "poor relationship" with money due to always getting out my card and paying without even paying proper attention to how much I was spending. I am/was terrible at tracking what I spend when using my card. So I tried the cash experiment by looking at what I spent each week then taking enough out in cash for it all. Having to do that quick calculation of how much to give the cashier made me realise just how much I spent on crap. I realised over time I had become blind to the prices of items as I picked them up. I would just grab what I was used to getting. So having to make sure when I got to the check out I had enough cash to pay for it made me look at the price as I picked up an item and keep a running total in my head. It didn't take long before I shocked myself that I was spending €15-20 every day on lunch. Plus an additional €10 on a coffee. Plus lots of other random €5-15 purchases. Carrying cash I realised how quickly I burned through it all. It helped me appreciate what you can get for a Euro. From there I decided to change some of my habits to spend better. I was clearly over-eating (as I was fat and even with "healthy eating" I never lost more than a couple of kilos) so decided to plan my meals out of the home. Then I planned my meals at home to be healthier and cheaper. Then it was just a good habit to actually check how much I was spending on things before I got to the check out. I read a few articles and skimmed books on how to better spend and save but to be honest it is just common sense and paying attention to what you are buying. Unless of course you are talking large amounts of money but then you should seek some professional advice IMHO which is what I have always done. But when it comes to your day-to-day spending common sense and knowing how much you're spending is key and for me cash helped with that. Obviously this won't be the solution for everyone but it worked well for me. If you haven't tried it I suggest you commit to it for two months. It is scary to leave you debit card at home and just take cash (I kept my credit card on me but that is only used for emergencies anyway) but do it and see how using cash works for you. Also just to clarify I don't get cash out every time I go to buy something. That would be a pain in the ass. Instead I take out €800 on pay day, keep 200 in my wallet for that week and put the rest in my office for the rest of the month. Not one week has come to an end with me being on zero. I think the lowest I have ever been was just under 20 remaining. Then on Sunday night whatever is left over carries over to next week and I take the rest from the initial 800 (well 600 on the second week). Then at the end of the month whatever I have left rolls over to the next month and I get out 800 minus whatever that left over amount is. So if I have 100 left I take out 700 rather than 800 the following month then I transfer that 100 difference into savings right away. Hope I have explained that in a way that makes sense? :) Update: Forgot to mention that tracking my spending with cash also changed my relationship with the foods I ate. I have cut right back on meat for example as I realised I was eating processed meat every day so I reduced that to quality meat three times a week. Just that change alone and I lost almost 10KG in a couple of months of no other changes. I went to the doctor to get my bloods checked as at first I was worried something was wrong with me. The doctors response? "well you stopped eating shitty processed meats and started eating more greens, of course you will lose weight". My bloods came back perfect.

sshine 7y ago

Having recently received private financial advisory, my advisor recommended that I do exactly this: Withdraw cash weekly, use only that cash to pay for food. Supposedly, it will make you more aware of how your spending affects your balance. Swiping a card "feels free".

lostlogin 7y ago
> Swiping a card "feels free" Could this relate to age or how one grew up? It doesn’t seem like one abstraction is really all that different from the other.
- newnewpdro 7y ago
  Cash is physical, it's tangible, exists in your hand/wallet, occupies space, carries weight in the real world. It's experientially very different to spend, and for me at least, carries substantially greater negative feedback as my wad diminishes in transactions. Then having to replenish my stash, visiting an ATM or asking for cash back, carries a distinct bite. Those things are largely absent when using cards or other electronic payments like phones. Though you can structure electronic payments such that it at least draws on a very small account requiring explicit replenishing of some inconvenience, to retain some of the bite as weekly or monthly funds become exhausted.

smileysteve 7y ago

The idea is that all of that unnecessary complexity helps make the expenses more tangible. So you're paying with 20s instead of a swipe. This isn't as much of a problem for the thrifty whom feel similar anxiety in using a card. Most likely people who are actively keeping a mental track of where their balance is after every purchase - or using a ledger.

astura 7y ago

The idea is you spend less if getting your money is unnecessarily complicated. Plus since you can physically see your money going away it "hurts" more so you'll be more likely to spend less. This doesn't "work" for everyone. OTOH what really helped a family member of mine understand how much he was spending was getting a credit card. He was on all cash for years and then moved to all debit. Never had any idea what he was spending because if he needed cash he'd just hit up the ATM or when he was using debit just swipe. He always spent less than he had/made but he wasn't paying attention to the amount on a larger scale. Once he got a credit card (at my suggestion) and started putting everyday purchases on it the bill would come at the end of the month. When he say down to pay it off he had to confront the entirety of the money he spent that month. He'd say "what the hell did I spend ${amount} on?" and he'd comb through the transactions and get a much better idea of his spending habits and was able to reduce the purchases that weren't providing him much value.

sneak 7y ago

This could easily be rephrased as “How come people are so obsessed with using payment systems with real-time warrantless government surveillance for all purchases?” I honestly don’t get it. Why would you pay a percent or two to be surveilled? It creates a time stamped track log, too, which can be easily cross-referenced with (also surveilled) cellphone position. https://www.wired.com/2010/12/realtime/ https://www.wired.com/2010/12/realtime/

Hackbraten 7y ago
YMMV but I don’t mind payment processors knowing my location. I’d choose that anytime over touching physical money (or having people who process my food touch it).
- sneak 7y ago
  It’s not just the payment processors, it is also the federal government, who, via parallel construction, have the ability to lock you in a cage for years and effectively prevent you from ever leaving the country thereafter, should they ever desire to do so.
  - redis_mlc 7y ago
    Google buys your payment stream, and can correlate that with your email, browsing and tracking history. Also other companies do this. You have to be a tool to do most of your payments with credit cards now.
    - Hackbraten 7y ago
      Can you imagine that this could be actually a matter of personal preference? Some people may not use Gmail, or any free email services. Others use Apple Pay so the acquirer and bank cannot know what items you bought, and the merchant cannot know your credit card number. Finally, some people enjoy having a digital ledger so they know what they spent. Do you feel your harsh words are justified here?
7y ago

newscracker 7y ago

A different context and reasoning: this article inspired me to use cash (wherever possible) for different reasons — “In Praise of Cash”. [1] [1]: https://aeon.co/essays/if-plastic-replaces-cash-much-that-is-good-will-be-lost https://aeon.co/essays/if-plastic-replaces-cash-much-that-is...

deleted 7y ago

[deleted]

satysin 7y ago

I found I had a "poor relationship" with money due to always getting out my card and paying without even paying proper attention to how much I was spending. I am/was terrible at tracking what I spend when using my card. So I tried the cash experiment by looking at what I spent each week then taking enough out in cash for it all. Having to do that quick calculation of how much to give the cashier made me realise just how much I spent on crap. I realised over time I had become blind to the prices of items as I picked them up. I would just grab what I was used to getting. So having to make sure when I got to the check out I had enough cash to pay for it made me look at the price as I picked up an item and keep a running total in my head. It didn't take long before I shocked myself that I was spending €15-20 every day on lunch. Plus an additional €10 on a coffee. Plus lots of other random €5-15 purchases. Carrying cash I realised how quickly I burned through it all. It helped me appreciate what you can get for a Euro. From there I decided to change some of my habits to spend better. I was clearly over-eating (as I was fat and even with "healthy eating" I never lost more than a couple of kilos) so decided to plan my meals out of the home. Then I planned my meals at home to be healthier and cheaper. Then it was just a good habit to actually check how much I was spending on things before I got to the check out. I read a few articles and skimmed books on how to better spend and save but to be honest it is just common sense and paying attention to what you are buying. Unless of course you are talking large amounts of money but then you should seek some professional advice IMHO which is what I have always done. But when it comes to your day-to-day spending common sense and knowing how much you're spending is key and for me cash helped with that. Obviously this won't be the solution for everyone but it worked well for me. If you haven't tried it I suggest you commit to it for two months. It is scary to leave you debit card at home and just take cash (I kept my credit card on me but that is only used for emergencies anyway) but do it and see how using cash works for you. Also just to clarify I don't get cash out every time I go to buy something. That would be a pain in the ass. Instead I take out €800 on pay day, keep 200 in my wallet for that week and put the rest in my office for the rest of the month. Not one week has come to an end with me being on zero. I think the lowest I have ever been was just under 20 remaining. Then on Sunday night whatever is left over carries over to next week and I take the rest from the initial 800 (well 600 on the second week). Then at the end of the month whatever I have left rolls over to the next month and I get out 800 minus whatever that left over amount is. So if I have 100 left I take out 700 rather than 800 the following month then I transfer that 100 difference into savings right away. Hope I have explained that in a way that makes sense? :) Update: Forgot to mention that tracking my spending with cash also changed my relationship with the foods I ate. I have cut right back on meat for example as I realised I was eating processed meat every day so I reduced that to quality meat three times a week. Just that change alone and I lost almost 10KG in a couple of months of no other changes. I went to the doctor to get my bloods checked as at first I was worried something was wrong with me. The doctors response? "well you stopped eating shitty processed meats and started eating more greens, of course you will lose weight". My bloods came back perfect.