They're not inherently "bad" or "good" it's just one layer of abstraction I personally don't need. I like dealing with just one big global money state variable

They're not inherently "bad" or "good" it's just one layer of abstraction I personally don't need. I like dealing with just one big global money state variable for personal finance. What made me switch was one day I had to come up with a deposit for a new apartment with a couple of room mates. Two days before I went to get a cashiers cheque my credit card auto-paid itself and I had significantly less cash than I thought and couldn't cover the deposit. I felt embarrassed and stupid. Should I have checked better? For sure. Now I _always_ check because the money _always_ comes out of the same account. If I'm cash short one day and want to buy something... I just wait a few days. I also make 90% of my purchases via cash day to day. Every Sunday I take out a chunk of cash and use that for coffee/beer/taking my girlfriend out to eat etc. Part of it is because I live in Taiwan and it's still very a much a cash based society (e.g. they'll take _cash on delivery_ for most things too). I'm not particularly frugal. I order Uber Eats all the time, I have a personal trainer at a nice gym nearby, I go to nice restaurants with my girlfriend, I'll buy a round of drinks for friends at the bar, etc. But for me, there's definitely something to looking at my wallet, not seeing as much cash as I thought, and thinking "On second thought, I went out two nights in a row, I don't need to go out again." I don't ever take out personal loans on anything either. Including car loans, those have always been cash. I'm not opposed to taking out a mortgage in the future, but I do like the idea of buying a house all out in cash and not having to owe a single person anything.