I Hate Cash!!
You all might think I’m crazy but I really, really, really HATE cash. It disappears too dang quickly and I don’t know where it all goes. Prime example:
Several colleagues and I had lunch at Tivoli’s: large party, one check, automatic 20% gratuity. The bill was ~$280.
No problem.
However, out of 10 people, only 3 came prepared to pay with cash. *sigh*
Problem.
To avoid the confusion that was about to ensue, I offered to pay the bill with my credit card and we would worry about the distribution later. Back at the office, I gave the admin my receipt. She calculated the cost of everyone’s meal and drinks (plus tax and tip), then sent an email to each person with how much they owed me. Their combined total was $255.
No problem.
By COB the next day, I was given an envelope with $280 cash. Did I mention these were very generous colleagues? LOL I can probably guess who, but apparently, someone insisted on paying for my meal. 
Of course, NO PROBLEM. LOL!
Unfortunately, it’s been less than a week and I have NO IDEA where it all went. For the life of me, I can not tell you what I bought, when I bought it, or where I bought it. And this burns me up!
In order to control my finances, I need visibility. I need to know how much money I have and where it’s going. With cash, there’s no guaranteed way to do that because when it’s gone, it’s gone. Like magic, just disappears without a trace. There’s nothing to prove it even existed.
$280. Less than one week later. And the only thing I know - it’s gone.
*sigh* Reason #982788 to love my credit cards.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Work to achieve, not to acquire.
And as always, BE FABULOUS!
Work to achieve, not to acquire.
And always, BE FABULOUS!
This blog is the story of my life...a single mom who worked her way from nothing to financial freedom. Subscribe here and follow the rest of my journey.
14 comments:
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Fabulous Financials v2.0 » G’bye January and Good Riddance (Pingback), 31 January 2008, 8:28
[...] After paying the mortgage and rent for February, I have $95 in my checking account, $40 in cash [hated it], and a ~$1,400 balance on my credit card. Now I don’t claim to be a math genius or anything, [...]
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(aka Samantha) SM…you ain’t NEVER LIED! That’s the EXACT reason I don’t carry cash either. I don’t get how I’ll have money one min and seemingly 10 min. later it’s gone(exaggeration) I LOVE LOVE LOVE my debit card and credit card!
Something similiar happened when my dept. met for a lunch at Maggiano’s
The bill came to $700 bucks. One of the Director’s offered to pay the entire meal on his credit card.
Whoa!
We all had to of course pay him back.
The problem with having large meals is that w/o separate checks it always become confusing.
I don’t know many people that carry (paper) cash. I carry my debit.
Single ma save the day !!…and made a profit ! LOL
That’s why I don’t like carrying cash either. However I make myself track cash expenditures. I have always have a notebook in my tote so I jot notes to myself and/or keep receipts when I make cash purchases so I can enter them in MS Money later.
wow…that’s interesting! I’m exactly the opposite. I used to whip out my debit/credit cards at the drop of a dime(see visual of me, betty and wilma yelling CHARGE IT!). I’ve charged and paid interest on everything from college tuition to a half-gallon of milk. So now I ONLY use cash. The visual of handing over MY MONEY really brings out the stingy in me. I budget for EVERYTHING (I am a control freak/whore) and if the envelope is empty, then it’s ok with me cuz I know I got what I needed.
Not trying to suggest this plan for anyone else; just sayn that CASH and pre-budgeting work for me!
I think what’s most important is that we all recognize our triggers for overspending and fix it…anyway u can!
Plan to be debt free in 2008!
That is why my wife and I began tracking *every* transaction, cash included, in our new expenses spreadsheet — independent of and on top of everything we track in Quicken. It’s given me a lot more visibility and it’s also encouraged me to not buy things at times because I didn’t want to have to justify it later (such as fast food).
I don’t like cash, either. I love using my debit card! It’s easier for me to know where my money went.
Cause you will inevitably have cash on hand again, I’d suggest just getting into the habit of asking for receipts for every little thing. If they don’t have receipts available, like if you buy a coffee or whatever, I scribble down that amount on another receipt (”+$1 for coffee”).
Another vote for debit/credit cards here. I took out $20 from the ATM on Monday and I am down to $2. Who knows where it went? I try not to go to the ATM unless it is absolutely necessary.
I vote for debit/checks over cash or credit. I feel compelled to record every debit transaction in my check register so I know exactly how much I’m spending. With cash, I’ve gotten sloppy about writing down purchases. With credit, there’s a record, but even though I don’t let my spending get away from me I still don’t write down every purchase immediately like I do with checks.
I prefer debit/credit too. Although I’m sure I would spend less with cash, I would lose the tracking and that’s more important to me. Also, without always having cash, I don’t have to find ATM’s that often!
As for your situation, what I try and do in that case is create a depost and withdrawal record so that I could put the cash towards the credit card bill and treat what I have as a withdrawal. That works for lower amounts though. In your case I would probably just deposit that much cash.
Gon’ Girl…going to lunch and making profit. LOL I don’t carry much cash either (though I do like to have a little on hand, just in case). I have to learn to strike a comfortable balance between cash & my credit card/debit.
I have the same problem with cash! That’s why I run immediately to an ATM and deposit it back into my accounts!
A similar thing happened to me yesterday! I went out Christmas shopping with $320, I came back with $60?? I didn’t buy anything
????/!!!