After the unfortunate incident with our lawn mower last fall, a new mower was on the "to buy" list for this spring.
We had decided which one we wanted to get, and since I was running up to the store to get something else anyway, I was just going to pick it up myself. There are always men at those stores that have been hired just for their brute strength and ability to haul stuff out to SUVs and Minivans.
At the last minute I remembered a stash of cash that we had. Now, we almost never have cash. I sometimes will get cash to pay a babysitter or garage sale, but that is usually it.
We are people who put everything on credit cards. Credit cards that we pay off monthly.
Some people have trouble with credit cards and claim to spend more money when they can just whip out the plastic. I, on the other hand, spend more money when I have cash. You see, when you spend on a credit card, you have to revisit your purchases at the end of the month. When you use cash, you don't.
I really don't like revisiting my purchases at the end of the month.
But I do it, and it helps me grow because it forces me to think about what we bought and if we needed it or not.
Anyway, I told Noah I was going to use the cash to buy the lawn mower. Then I paused showed him the money and said, "I am buying my lawn mower with the cash I have scrimped and saved from my egg money. My husband makes me cut our grass with a scissors, but I have been saving for nigh on 3 years now, and I finally have enough for a machine." He laughed, and I told him that was kind of how I felt about using cash for a big purchase.
So I went to the store and I bought the mower and I used the cash.
And it felt really weird.
Somehow it feels more "adult" to use a credit card. Somehow I feel richer when I use a credit card.
Paying in cash seemed somewhat humbling, as if I didn't have good credit.
As if I had to SAVE for a purchase. Imagine that.
Do any of you feel strange spending cash for big purchases?
Do you spend less if you use cash? Or credit?
5 comments:
Can't say that I've ever used cash for a big purchase. Ooh wait.....I did pay for half of our new running shoes with cash. Half with cash, half with debit. That DID feel weird.....like we didn't have enough $ so we had just donated our plasma or something. But then again, I rarely have enough cash to pay a meter:( Debit cards somehow feel safer.......less danger of theft maybe?
We have frozen literally, all of our credit cards. We cannot use them. I'm more responsible with cash.
I used credit/debit cards all the time in the states. I never had cash, but like you I just pay it off monthly and it isn't a problem. Here in brasil everytime I use my credit card they call dad (even though they have been told I am in Brasil). I use cash more here...but get it out at the ATM..so both I guess.
I feel richer if I have cash in my purse. I tend not to use it, because then I won't have it anymore. But when I do use it I first feel like I just pulled it off of a huge wad of money, but then I feel sad...it is gone and I feel poor. I almost always use plastic, because I never plan ahead to get cash and so when I do have some, I also feel smart and organized or happy, depending on how I happened to acquire it.
I actually feel really strange using a credit card and almost always use cash for everything. That's probably because credit is more difficult to use here in Peru, but even when I come home I somehow feel strange using that card.
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