I’m switching to a cash based system of money management.  I have to.  When spending money is as easy as swiping a debit or credit card, it seems that I can’t tell myself when to stop. 

Usually I am good at knowing my limits and when I’ve shopped enough, but the past two weeks have just thrown me for a loop. 

It started innocently enough: I wanted to buy some furniture for my apartment.  I’m not talking fancy living room/bedroom sets, but stuff you put together yourself.  Bookshelves, a chair, small t.v. stand from Target.  Somehow it snowballed insanely.  One more thing led to another to another.  It’s not like I was buying large items.  Therein lies the problem.  Little things add up quickly.   Much more quickly than you realize.  I almost had a heart attack when I looked at Mint to see the damage.  The month isn’t even half over yet!

Here’s the plan: 

Take out a specified amount of cash every week ($40-$50).  Use the credit card ONLY for groceries and gas (I get points for those).  Once the cash is gone for the week, it’s gone.  I can’t spend any more.  I should have done this earlier.  I know that I don’t spend cash as freely as credit/debit.  Even though I do prefer using a card so that I can look at spending patterns at my leisure, it has to be this way for now.  Something about physically having the bills in your hand and handing it over to the cashier makes me want to conserve it.  When I gain some perspective in a while, then I’ll slowly transition to using a card for most transactions. 

Good thing I realized this now, instead of down the road to debt.  I always pay the credit card balance each month, but I’m scarily close to not being able to do that this time. 

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