Free to Use Cash

It's BLACK FRIDAY!

Am I too late?

I pray that I'm not too late!

It's the time of year that people begin to lose their minds at the malls and department stores...signing up for credit cards to take advantage of additional savings on purchases and borrowing money from lenders to give gifts to friends and loved ones. As frugal as it may seem to sign up for a Kohl's charge card to get an additional 15% off of your entire purchase, it's actually irresponsible (especially if you're not going to pay the balance before the grace periods runs out). As sweet as it sounds to sacrifice time and money to buy Christmas gifts for the people you care about most, it's actually evil if you're doing it with money you don't have by using credit cards you don't need.

I may sound a bie harsh today but it's because tough love seems to be most necessary during this time of year. Too many of us go to extremes to follow the gift-giving tradition we have come to know and love each Christmas.


Why not use cash? Why not plan for Christmas by setting aside a certain amount of cash to buy gifts (cash that hasn't been otherwise designated for regular expenses)? It has been statistically proven that consumers are more conscientious of their spending when they use cash than when they swipe their debit cards or credit cards because they can see cash leaving their hands as they shop but don't immediately recognize the financial damage they're doing by swiping their cards until later on.

So, although I'd like to advise you to avoid shopping at all if you have debts you need to pay down or off, I'll settle for asking you to leave the plastic at home, put an allotted amount of cash in envelops with names and gift suggestions for recipients on them, and spend only that! Have fun and don't hurt yourselves out there!