Today’s Mandala Message: Spend Less by Paying With Cash
This week I’m working through Principles #59 and #60: Master the Spending Game and To Spend More, First Make More of Jack Canfield’s “The Success Principles”. We continue with more principles about money. I set my intention today to ponder how I pay for things. About reducing spending Canfield’s states: “One way to curb spending is to start paying cash for everything. Cash is more immediate. It makes you think about what you’re buying. You’ll probably find yourself spending less than you would if you used credit cards. Every potential purchase will be considered more carefully, “necessary” incidentals will become less necessary, and large purchases will probably be put off, forcing you to think about how you can make do without them.”
Since The Covid, I use my debit card to pay for just about everything. On bigger ticket items, I use a credit card to earn travel miles but pay it off that month. This idea of paying cash for everything is not new to me. I have noticed in the past that I was a lot more careful with my spending because I only had a limited amount on me at any given time. To get more would require a trip to an ATM. I can also see that paying with cash would make it easier to adhere to a budget. If I only allowed myself a certain amount of cash for let’s say groceries, I’ll probably be less likely to buy a $5 bag of fancy potato chips. It might also help me drop a few pounds. 😁
Using my debit card is way too easy and half the time I’m not even aware of the total amount I paid…I just pop the card in, punch a few numbers, and I’m out of there.
The timing of today’s message is quite interesting. I participated in annual artisan fair today and out of all the sales I made today, 81% were cash sales, 13% were venmo sales, and 6% were debit card sales. Looking back on the day, I did notice that those paying with cash were more present, more aware with their purchases.
Paying with case is a more physical process. The buyer needs to open their wallet, assess what’s there, pull out an amount that will cover the cost, and hand it over to me. On my end, I receive it, assess if it’s the exact amount or if change is due. I put the cash in my cash holder, and if change is due, I pull out the exact amount and hand it over to the buyer.
With the debit card sales, it required me to create a new sale my phone app, add their items to the “cart”, go to the “check-out”, pull out my device to read their card, complete the sale and “send” them a receipt if they wanted one.
The venmo sale was the easiest transaction for me. I didn’t have to do anything. The buyer takes care of it on their end and then I get a text letting me know that the “money” was sent. Easy peasy. Interesting side note…when buyers had the option to pay by card or venmo…they all preferred to use venmo. Not sure of the significance…but it is interesting (IMHO).
I realize that I went a little off topic and yet it seemed appropriate to share how people paid for items today. The most fascinating to me was the percentage of cash sales. It’s making me re-think my hesitancy to paying with cash.
A good mindfulness practice would be to notice how much of what you buy is paid for with cash.
So how about you? Do you tend to pay for things with cash? Or do you use a debit/credit card? Do you notice the difference in your spending when you pay for things with cash versus with a card?
“I don’t like having debts.
— CM Punk
I don’t like buying anything
that I can’t buy in cash.”
Blessings,
Maureen
The Mandala Lady
All Things Mandalas
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