Cash in

So I have to get my car fixed. Apparently this thing called a alternator conked out last friday. Sucks. And by sucks I mean, sucks I wasn't really budgeting for that repair. "Lebity lebban hundred dollars plus 40 dollars for an oil change is your total Ma'am". Swell.

Things like this always put my budget into a crunch. I know there are little things I can do to cut back (well, that or roll my pennies and pray), so I was thing about this: not using my credit card for a month.

To me this is drastic. I've mentioned before that I use my credit card for everything.Not just because its easier than stopping at the ATM, but also so I can always look up something if need be. Generation Plastic. Even Monopoly is "going with the times", by replacing cash with plastic!

Could You go with out your credit card for a month? ABC News noted that

if you forego plastic and use only cold hard cash, you're likely to spend much less -- 20 percent less, according to one recent study.

This is appealing... this 20%. Even ATM cards still make it easy to loose track of what you are spending.

This blogger suggests thinking about how much money you need:

The first thing you are going to need to do is decide what you are going to pay cash for. Dave Ramsey recommends using cash for the following categories;

• Food (all food purchases, including fast food)
• gasoline and oil
• car repairs
• clothing
• cleaning/laundry
• toiletries
• cosmetics
• hair care
• entertainment
• blow money (money you know you are going to spend that doesn’t have a designated category).

Ha . Woops I guess if I had done that I wouldn't be in this pickle I am in the first place. This blogger also mentions writing down on an envelope (with said cash in it) everything you buy. Then it will be easier to see what you really don't need.

I think I like the week to week idea

I encourage you to take a week or two and give this a try to see what effect it has on your everyday spending. Before your regular routine on Monday create a budget for how much money you will need throughout the week. If you regularly buy lunch out, count that, or if you stop for coffee on the way to work be sure to include that as well.

Once you have a pretty good idea of how much money you will spend throughout the week you should have that much cash on you at the start of the week. Whether this is $20 or $100, only have the amount of cash that you have budgeted with you and use this cash for all of those everyday expenses.

OK I'm going to try it. I'm off to the ATM. Right after I charge my mechanic bill.