The idea of this period’s habit is to move away from using credit cards or debit cards and use cash almost exclusively. The reason behind it is because I tend to spend money very freely and very rapidly. While I usually take care of bills before spending money on frivolous things, I also fall victim to impulse buys on a frequent basis.
To get rid of that, I’m going to start carrying cash only. Since I have eight weeks to establish a solid habit of frugality based on not carrying plastic, I’ll have a step for each week. Nothing like a bit of ambitious scheduling to really set the pace, aye!
Week 1: Carry Cash
Pretty simple. This week, all I do is keep a bit of cash in my wallet to cover some expenses. The cards don’t leave the wallet yet.
Week 2: Budget for the Week
This week I will write up a budget for the week. The budget is based on what cash I will need to cover all my expenses for that week and nothing more. Following that, I take out enough cash to follow the budget, and that’s how much I carry.
Week 3: Lose the Cards
Here’s where the plastic goes away. Building on the last two weeks, I establish a new budget and just use cash. Note: I’m not destroying the cards or closing their associated accounts, just leaving them at home instead of in my wallet.
Week 4: Budget Harder (Half Way Point!)
Where before my budgets were more practice than anything else, this week’s budget will be heavily geared towards spending less on impulse buys. I plan on having less money in this week’s budget for spending.
Week 5: Budget Harder Still
Again, I reduce the amount of spending money available. At this point I should be close to an “ideal” spending budget, but still a little bit over that.
Week 6: Final Budget
This week is when my spending budget reaches its ideal amount. I should be carrying only enough cash to cover travel costs and anything I have set out specifically to pay for, like groceries.
Week 7: Reduce Online Spending
Now I won’t just reduce my out-of-home spending, but any online spending I might be doing also. This is mostly getting rid of non-recurring online entertainment expenses, like say buying games online.
Week 8: Put Bills on Auto-Pilot (Final Week!)
Here is the fun part. By putting as many bills as possible on automatic payment, I remove myself from the digital money transfer process for the majority of transactions. This has the benefit of making bills a high priority, but also reduces the amount of time my cards spend on my mind.