Cash Only Spending Weekend Success Story

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Last week Vonnie and I got back on the cash only spending plan that helped us pay off a mountain of credit card debt. Living within our means, and spending only the budgeted cash we have in hand, sometimes require tradeoffs be made. There’s only so much you can do with a finite amount of funds. It took exactly one week for just such a challenge to arise, and for our methodology to validate itself.

Our initial spending plan for the weekend included just a few things:

 

  • Fire Up The Smoker : I was watching an episode of BBQ Pitmasters in which the contestants made brisket. I turned to Vonnie and said, “I want to make a brisket. Can I make a brisket this weekend?”   We decided that the brisket making would be in our spending plan, and that we would invite friends over Saturday night for a get together to help eat it. After all, we couldn’t eat a 16 pound brisket ourselves. We wouldn’t need to buy much else for the gathering, as our guests would bring side dishes.
  • Movie : Trainwreck has been all over the media the last few weeks. It looks hilarious. Vonnie and I planned to catch a matinee sometime during the weekend.
  • Lady Lunch : Vonnie was invited to go out for lunch with her friends. Planned, purposeful, and in the spending plan. No problem.

These items would not consume the entirety of our weekly entertainment spending, so I had expressed an interest in marking whatever was left towards new running shoes. My current pair are getting towards the end of their life and will need to be replaced soon, but they’re not cheap.  I wanted to save some money out of our weekly budget for the next few weeks in hopes of buying the shoes soon.

Then, along came curve ball #1: Tristan’s Gaming Party.

Every couple of weeks, our son invites his friends over to play video games on their computer. He sets up tables and power strips in our basement, and his friends bring their computers over to our house. They play online games late into the night, sleep a few hours, and then pack it up and go home. Vonnie and I have always said that we would supply all the snacks, soda, pizza, or whatever is needed if our kids and their friends want to hang out at our house. Because if they’re at our house, we know where they are, and that they are safe. I asked Tristan what he’d like me to pick up for him and his friends. The usual chips, soda, and licorice were delivered, as was the customary pizza from Little Caesar’s.

Curve ball #2: Unexpected Dinner Out

Late Thursday afternoon, I got a text from a friend of ours that moved away several years ago. He was in town for the night, and we made plans to meet him and some other friends for dinner.

Before deciding on either curve ball, Vonnie and I inspected the cash we had on hand, and consciously determined that both curveballs were containable within our available funds. However, there was one side effect.

The unexpected spending left nothing to put towards my new shoes.

Had we not been spending only the cash we had extracted from the ATM there would have been a very different outcome. We would have made the brisket, gone to the movie, and spent money on the two financial curve balls. I would have also marched right into the shoe store and bought my new shoes.

Buying the new shoes would have been a $150 over budget purchase.

We made the trade off to buy supplies for Tristan’s party, as well as go out for dinner with our friends and sacrifice saving for my new shoes. I still need new shoes, but getting them will be delayed by a week or two.

The good news is, we’re on budget. Our cash only spending plan WORKS, and that’s better than a new pair of shoes any day.

 

About Travis

16 Responses to “Cash Only Spending Weekend Success Story”

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  1. I’ve experienced this myself too. When I have the cash, I make much smarter spending decisions. When I just use my debit or credit card, I tend to give into my urges and buy because it really doesn’t feel like I am spending money. Great job sticking to your budget!

    • Travis says:

      That’s an accurate description for me too, Jon. Pulling cash out of my wallet adds a physicality to a purchase that swiping a card does not. Thanks for the support!

  2. It’ really hard sometimes, but practicing delaying instant gratification is a great muscle to build. I have holes in my sheets so large you can see my mattress pad. Classy! lol! But I have to many other things that are priorities now, and I can live with the holes…for now.

    • Travis says:

      It’s all about priorities, right? But when you do buy those new sheets, you’re going to really appreciate them because of how long you’ve waited for them!

  3. Mackenzie says:

    Great job sticking to your budget! Delayed gratification is super hard, but you did good Travis! 🙂

  4. It really brought your decision making in focus with those unexpected expenses. You had to make some hard decisions to live within what you budgeted or to say the “heck with it” and we are going to spend the money. I think your solution worked well with the delay of the shoes until you have the funds in your cash budget.

    For us, when we stick to our budget using cash, we definitely spend a lot less money and prioritize our purchases much better than using plastic (credit or debit)!

    • Travis says:

      I find that we spend less money when we use cash as well. When we swipe the card, we spend more and end up having nothing to show for it. If we spend less, we have more left over for other things – like vacations, or investing in our future!

  5. Your future self thanks your current self! I’ve found that using cash is the single easiest way to change your financial habits. It doesn’t prevent us from spending; just urges us to spend more wisely!

  6. We don’t use cash only, but we have something similar. Each week I deposit a set amount into our main account from our secondary one. That’s what we have to stick to for 7 days. That’s for food, co-pays (we see a lot of doctors) and anything else that crops up.

    If we end up with a bunch of doctor appointments in the same week, sometimes we end up having to move cash in pretty early. But overall we do pretty well. And it keeps us mindful of our spending.

  7. This is a really awesome article, Travis! I find things like this easier with a money envelope system, personally.

    • Travis says:

      I do, too, Sean…..the trick is how to manage those envelopes on the fly. It’s an art form, but with careful planning of our spending, it can be done!

  8. Strange coincidence: My daughter is working at a sports store for the summer, and yesterday she phoned to ask me, “What size of feet does Dad have?” I told her, and she said she could bring him home a free pair of shoes. Too bad you son doesn’t work at this store! I also need limits in place if my spending is to be prevented from going overboard. So great that the cash only system is working : )

    • Travis says:

      LOL, Prudence, maybe I should encourage him to get a job there. 🙂 Limits are good……I need them too. With just a little guidance (even if I could break free if I wanted to), I do MUCH better!

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