Cash vs card

[fivegomadindorset]

Have finally taken the plunge now that I have a regular income and decided that we will be a cash only household and I feel liberated and finally in control of money. It is so, so easy to just whip out debit/credit card and bung it on and hope towards the end of the month that it won't be declined, so from now on cash will be withdrawn once a week and that is it for the week, any left over will get put into savings for treats etc.

But wouldn't you have to carry large amounts of cash around with you? I'd be paranoid about misplacing my wallet and develop an annoying habit of checking for it every two minutes.

Although depending on cash would stop me popping to the shops for milk and spending £20 on nothing much.

I think it's a great idea. I don't do it to that extent, but do take £10 at the start of the week for top-ups like milk and bread for the week, and if we don't have any cash, we don't buy things we don't need.

The most you'd ever carry is for one week's shop at a time I would assume?

What about a pay as you go card?
We each have one which we transfer our 'spending' money each month, Means I can draw out cash but still shop online without touching the 'bills' money.

i used to have to live like that. it got me into good habits, well habits of sticking to a shopping list.
i tried it last week with nat west debarcle, but just spent merrily and breathed a sigh of releif that what i spent in the supermarket wasnt any more than what i had on me.

should make an effortr to do it again though - now you can also withdraw fivers from some cashpoints rather than automatically taking out a tenner

My credit card is the reward type so I use it as often as possible. I also like the insurance aspect... cash transactions are not protected. It's set up so that a direct debit pays off the balance each month - no interest charges that way. I keep to a budget & record all transactions so that, when the bill comes, I already know how much it's going to be.