Using cash as a means for purchases while not as common as it used to be, is still a prevalent form of payment. Paraphrasing what Zig Ziglar used to say - People talk about cold, hard cash. I think it is soft and warm.
Cash is a marvelous thing, and it is even better to have a lot of it, but if you are going to use it for transactions, you should remember the following four things:
-
If you are going to carry cash, it is a good idea to carry a wallet in your front pocket. It is much harder for someone to steal your money.
-
Only bring enough cash for emergencies and specifically planned expenses.
-
Collect receipts or keep a notebook to write down specifically where you spent your cash. This will help you track accurate amounts for your budget at the end of the month.
-
If you insist on using cash, try to carry smaller denominations as they tend to attract less attention.
Cash transactions tend to get lost when a receipt is not generated. For example, your son comes to you and says that his friends are going to a movie and asks if he can go with them. He tells you that it will cost $20. You pull out your wallet and give him the cash. You have no receipt for the transaction. When the end of the month comes and you need to put your expenditures against your budget, you will probably not remember having given your child the money. I know it sounds picky, but we need to account for what we spend or we will lose control of our budgets.
There are those who feel they will spend less if they carry around cash because it feels harder to spend cash than to run a card through a reader. That can be very true, but you still need to keep track of it.
If you feel like Zig Ziglar and like the feel of cash in your hand and pockets, just keep track of how you use it so you can continue to have plenty when you need it.
